Road bicycle racer (born 1985)
Mickaël Delage![]() |
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| Full name | Mickaël Delage |
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| Born | (1985-08-06) 6 August 1985 (age 39)
Libourne, France |
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| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
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| Weight | 70 kg (154 lb) |
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| Current team | Retired |
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| Disciplines | |
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| Role | Rider |
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| Rider type | Rouleur |
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| 2005–2008 | Française des Jeux |
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| 2009–2010 | Silence–Lotto |
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| 2011–2021 | FDJ[1][2] |
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Mickaël Delage (born 6 August 1985) is a French former professional road and track cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam Groupama–FDJ.[3]
Career
Born in Libourne, Delage participated at the World Track Championships in Moscow in 2003 as a junior, where he won the silver medal at the points race, after Australian Miles Olman. In that same year he would become national junior champion of France at the team pursuit (alongside Jonathan Mouchel, Yannick Marie and Mickaël Mallie) and the madison (together with Mouchel). In 2004 he would win the national title in the points race at the under-23 level.
Delage spent 17 years as a professional rider on the road, riding for 15 of those years with the Française des Jeux team across two spells.[4] He made his Giro d'Italia debut in 2006 and finished in 129th position and he won the 1st stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. Later that year he would again become French national champion when he won the team pursuit together with Mathieu Ladagnous, Jonathan Mouchel, Sylvain Blanquefort and Mickaël Preau. In 2007 he made his Tour de France debut.
Delage's two periods with FDJ were separated by an interlude with Silence–Lotto, joining the Belgian squad alongside FDJ team-mate Philippe Gilbert. Whilst at Lotto he achieved what he later described as the best performance of his career, finishing as runner-up in the 2009 Clásica de San Sebastián. He returned to FDJ in 2011, where he found a role as a leadout man for Arnaud Démare.[4]
Delage suffered injuries at the 2020 Tour de Pologne when he crashed whilst riding downhill at 80 km/h, including a meniscus injury and friction burns. Following this he decided to retire from competition when his contract expired at the end of the following season. Although his 2021 season was disrupted by undergoing knee surgery in March, he returned to competition at the French National Road Race Championships, and finished his career at Paris–Chauny in the autumn.[4]
Major results
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Legend
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Did not compete
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| DNF
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Did not finish
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References
External links
Media related to Mickaël Delage at Wikimedia Commons
