Will Clarke (cyclist)

Will Clarke
Clarke at the 2011 Four Days of Dunkirk
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Clarke
NicknameBig horse / Wilbur
Born (1985-04-11) 11 April 1985 (age 39)
Campbell Town, Tasmania, Australia
Height1.92 m (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in)
Weight81 kg (179 lb)
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeTime trialist
Amateur team
2010Ag2r–La Mondiale (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2008–2010Praties
2011Leopard Trek
2012Champion System
2013Argos–Shimano
2014–2016Drapac Professional Cycling
2017–2018Cannondale–Drapac
2019–2020Trek–Segafredo[1][2]

William Clarke (born 11 April 1985) is an Australian professional road racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI WorldTeam Trek–Segafredo.[3] He is not related to fellow Australian cyclist and past teammate Simon Clarke. William Clarke is a descendant of Australian politician and businessman William John Turner Clarke.

Career

Clarke was born, raised, and resides on his family's 8,100-hectare (20,000-acre) farm near Campbell Town, Tasmania, Australia. Clarke rode as a stagiaire with Ag2r–La Mondiale in 2010 in the UCI World Tour, while signed to Genesys Wealth Advisers (2008–2010) in the UCI Oceania Tour.[4] He moved to a UCI ProTeam full-time in 2011 for Leopard Trek,[5] before spending a season at both Champion System in 2012,[6] and Argos–Shimano in 2013.[7]

Clarke then moved to the Drapac Professional Cycling team in 2014,[8] as the team moved up to the Professional Continental level.[8] After three seasons with Drapac Professional Cycling, Clarke returned to the World Tour with Cannondale–Drapac, riding with them until the end of 2018. He signed with Trek–Segafredo,[1] for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, returning to the team that he competed for in 2011.

In May 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Giro d'Italia.[9]

Major results

2008
1st Goulburn to Sydney Classic
2009
5th Time trial, Oceania Road Championships
2010
3rd Overall Tour de Taiwan
4th Time trial, National Road Championships
2012
1st Stage 2 Tour Down Under
1st Prologue Tour of Japan
5th Road race, National Road Championships
8th Rund um Köln
2014
Tour of Iran
1st Points classification
1st Stage 2
1st Stage 1 (ITT) Tour of Japan
1st Prologue Tour de Kumano
2nd Time trial, Oceania Road Championships
5th Time trial, National Road Championships
10th Overall Herald Sun Tour
2015
1st Prologue Herald Sun Tour
2016
Tour de Taiwan
1st Stages 1 & 4
1st Stage 3 Volta a Portugal
1st Prologue Herald Sun Tour
1st Prologue Tour of Austria

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2017 2018 2019
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia — — 141
A yellow jersey Tour de France — — —
A red jersey Vuelta a España 157 — —
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References

  1. ^ a b "Trek-Segafredo announce official 2019 rosters for men and women". Trek Bicycle Corporation. Intrepid Corporation. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Trek-Segafredo announce complete 2020 men's roster". Cyclingnews.com. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Where the WorldTour Aussies are heading in 2021". Cycling Central. Special Broadcasting Service. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. ^ Johnson, Greg (13 July 2010). "Australia's Clarke lands Ag2r stagiaire role". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  5. ^ Farrand, Stephen (3 November 2010). "Denifl, Clarke and Feillu join the Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  6. ^ van Eyck, Xylon (22 October 2011). "Will Clarke leaves Leopard Trek for Champion System". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Argos-Shimano completed by Parisien". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Drapac announce three more signings". Cyclingnews.com. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  9. ^ "2019: 102nd Giro d'Italia: Start List". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 8 May 2019.

Media related to William Clarke at Wikimedia Commons