Michael Rogers (born 20 December 1979) is an Australian retired professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

who competed professionally between 1999 and 2016, for the , , , and teams. He is a three-time World Time Trial Champion, winning consecutively in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

(after

David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis (cycling team), Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of t ...

was stripped for doping),

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered ...

, and won Grand Tour stages at the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours (the Giro d'It ...

and the Giro d'Italia. In April 2016, Rogers announced via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, that he was being forced to retire from professional cycling due to a congenital heart defect condition which had been worsening.

Career

Early career

Rogers was part of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

, which led him to move to Europe at age 16 as an amateur. He started as a track racer under coach Charlie Walsh. At the 2002 Tour Down Under, Rogers' team-prepared bicycle was damaged in a collision with a motorcycle (which was not captured on TV cameras) forcing Rogers to come to a halt by the roadside. There were no team cars nearby, and Rogers appeared visibly frustrated with the turn of events. Fortunately an amateur cyclist, Adam Pyke, who was spectating offered his own

Colnago Colnago Ernesto & C. S.r.l. or Colnago is a manufacturer of high quality road-racing bicycles founded by Ernesto Colnago near Milano in Cambiago, Italy. It remained a family-controlled firm until May 4, 2020, when it was announced that the UAE ...

bicycle as a replacement and Rogers was able to continue needing only a minor saddle height adjustment on route from a mechanic alongside in a car. He went on to finish second on the stage, took the race lead, and ultimately went on to win the race overall. The entire episode including swapping bicycles was captured by the television cameras while Rogers, Pyke and the borrowed bicycle were reunited at the end of the stage by the Australian broadcaster Seven in a televised interview. Rogers won the world time-trial championship in

and

. He came second in 2003 but became champion after the winner,

, was disqualified for doping. Rogers received his

rainbow jersey The rainbow jersey is the distinctive cycling jersey, jersey worn by the reigning World Cycling Championship, world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the Union Cycli ...

and

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

on the day of the 2004 championship, thereby receiving two gold medals on the same day. In the

2003 Tour de France The 2003 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 5 to 27 July, and the 90th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

, Rogers helped

Richard Virenque Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", ...

win his sixth mountains classification. He was the last rider left to help in Virenque's day-long escape and stage win. Rogers finished fourth in the road time trial at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. In May 2011 US cyclist

Tyler Hamilton Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cycli ...

returned his gold medal for this event after admitting to doping during his cycling career, and in August 2012 the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

formally stripped Hamilton of his victory, resulting in Rogers being awarded the bronze medal. In September 2015, he received the Olympic medal in a ceremony at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

T Mobile (2006–2010)

Rogers joined for the 2006 season, and finished 9th overall in the

. In an interview during the 2006 season, Rogers disclosed that he had received training advice by Italian doctor

Michele Ferrari Michele Ferrari (born 26 March 1953) is an Italian physician, cycling coach and author, who is mostly known for his role in supplying bicycle racers with performance-enhancing drugs, notably EPO. His most famous client was Lance Armstrong. Biog ...

for several months during 2006. On 15 July, Rogers withdrew on the 8th stage of the

2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was ...

after breaking a

collarbone The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the righ ...

in a crash descending the Cormet de Roselend. He continued until the doctor arrived from attending fellow Australian

Stuart O'Grady Stuart O'Grady (born 6 August 1973) is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Men's Madison at the 2004 ...

, who ended up stretchered to hospital. It was after this that Rogers contracted

infectious mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adult ...

(glandular fever), which caused a dip in his racing form for some time. By late 2009 he had returned to form and began to have significant racing success, with , the successor to T-Mobile. In 2010, as leader of his team, he won the Vuelta a Andalucía, and then the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the t ...

(the first non-American to do so). After a disappointing

(37th overall), Rogers announced he would concentrate in future on shorter races (e.g. one week in length) as he was no longer suited to the longer tours.

Team Sky (2011–2012)

Michael Rogers 3, London 2012 Time Trial - Aug 2012

In October 2010 it was announced that he would leave and join British based for the 2011 racing season. However he suffered a relapse of his mononucleosis early in the season and was unable to defend his 2010 Tour of California title. Rogers returned to fitness towards the end of the season. Rogers began the 2012 season with third place in the Australian National Time Trial Championships, and led at the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (branded as the Santos Tour Down Under under a partnership arrangement) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 UCI WorldT ...

, where he finished 4th in the general classification. In March, Rogers finished third at the

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many year ...

; he placed second to 's

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

in the individual time trial around Porto-Vecchio, and finished eighth on the final stage, the summit finish of the . After finishing fifth in April's

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

, Rogers won May's Bayern–Rundfahrt stage race in Germany, winning Stage 2 and the time trial Stage 4 in the process, his first victories whilst riding for . Rogers then rode the Critérium du Dauphiné, helping leader

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to ...

win the race, whilst finishing second overall himself after a strong ride in the time trial. Rogers was selected in the squad for the

, as one of Wiggins' key domestiques. He suffered a crash towards the end of Stage 1, but was able to make it back to the peloton. Rogers played a key team role in the rest of the race, setting the tempo on mountains and notably bringing back a long range attack by Cadel Evans on Stage 11, as Sky ultimately achieved a 1–2 finish in the GC with Wiggins and

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one ...

Team Saxo-Tinkoff (2013–2016)

Rogers left Sky to join in 2012 following a new Sky policy requiring all riders to sign to confirm they have no history of doping although he denied leaving for that reason. In May, Rogers was the runner-up to Tejay van Garderen in the

. In July Rogers rode the

in support of

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice (2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vuelta ...

and finished in 16th place. In October he won the

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions wi ...

one-day race. In December it was announced that he had tested positive for

clenbuterol Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most common ...

at the latter race, and was suspended from cycling pending further investigation. On 23 April 2014 the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues rac ...

(UCI) announced he would be cleared of any wrongdoing, no further action would be taken and that Rogers would be free to race again. The UCI accepted that there was a significant probability that the

came from contaminated meat consumed while Rogers was competing in China, where the drug is often consumed by animals in slaughterhouses to exhibit better performance in farm sporting events. He returned to racing just in time to ride the

2014 Giro d'Italia The 2014 Giro d'Italia was the 97th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The race started off in Belfast, on 9 May, with a team time trial and concluded in Trieste, on 1 June, with a flat stage. A total of 198 ...

. Throughout much of the race, he rode in support of Rafał Majka. He won his first Grand Tour individual stage on the eleventh stage and also won the penultimate stage summit finish at the Monte Zoncolan. On 22 July 2014, Rogers won his first Tour de France stage, winning stage 16 of the race. The longest stage of the race, a route from

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Au ...

Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon (; oc, Banhèras de Luishon), also referred to as just Luchon, is a commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Luchon ...

, Rogers attacked Cyril Gautier at the bottom of the descent of the Port de Balès with remaining to win in solo fashion.

Post-cycling career

After his active cycling career Rogers had been working as 's technical partner manager, and, prior to that, he had been the founder and CEO of virtual-world training platform VirtuGO, which closed down in November 2019. Since November 2020 Rogers is employed by the UCI as its "innovation manager".

Major results

;1996 : 1st MaillotAustralia

Time trial, National Junior Road Championships ;1997 : UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships ::1st Jersey rainbow

Team pursuit ::1st Jersey rainbow

Points race : 2nd Silver medal blank

Time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships ;1998 : 1st Gold medal blank

Scratch race,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

: 1st

Individual pursuit, National Track Championships ;1999 : 2nd Silver medal blank

Time trial, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships ;2000 : 1st Stage 2

: 3rd

Time trial, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships ;2001 : 2nd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Be ...

) : 2nd

Duo Normand The Duo Normand is a two-man team time trial (against the clock) for elite racing cyclists. Held annually at Marigny-le-Lozon in Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ...

(with

) : 4th Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic : 4th Joseph Vögeli Memorial : 6th Chrono des Herbiers : 8th Firenze–Pistoia : 9th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge : 10th Circuito de Getxo ;2002 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour de Beauce : 2nd Silver medal blank

Time trial,

: 2nd

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off a ...

, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall International Tour of Rhodes : 5th

Sparkassen Giro Bochum The Sparkassen Giro Bochum is a road bicycle race which is annually held for both men's and women's around an urban circuit in the German city of Bochum, Germany. Since 2005 the men's race is part of the UCI Europe Tour, being organised as ...

: 5th Chrono des Herbiers : 6th

Poreč Trophy Poreč Trophy (through history held under names Trofej Plava Laguna, G. P. Istria, Trophy Riviera and G.P. Umag) is a road bicycle race held annually near the town of Poreč, in the Istrian peninsula. It is organized as a 1.2 event on the U ...

: 8th

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

: 9th Grand Prix des Nations ;2003 : 1st Jersey rainbow chrono

: 1st

Overall Deutschland Tour ::1st Stage 6 ( ITT) : 1st Jersey orange

Overall

Route du Sud The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de Franc ...

::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Betw ...

: 2nd

, National Road Championships : 2nd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with László Bodrogi) : 4th Overall

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

::1st

Young rider classification : 5th Overall Tour de Picardie : 6th Grand Prix des Nations : 9th LuK Challenge Chrono (with László Bodrogi) ;2004 : 1st Jersey rainbow chrono

: 2nd Firenze–Pistoia : 3rd Bronze medal olympic

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: 4th Grand Prix des Nations : 6th Overall

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the World Tour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the ...

: 7th Chrono des Herbiers : 8th Overall

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlook ...

::1st Young rider classification : 9th LuK Challenge Chrono (with Patrik Sinkewitz) ;2005 : 1st Jersey rainbow chrono

: 2nd Overall

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

: 2nd Chrono des Herbiers : 3rd Gran Premio di Chiasso : 4th Overall

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of th ...

: 7th Overall

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the ...

: 8th Overall

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'', es, Vuelta al País Vasco, links=no, eu, Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races t ...

: 8th Tour du Haut Var : 8th LuK Challenge Chrono (with Patrik Sinkewitz) : 9th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ;2006 : 2nd Overall Regio-Tour ::1st Stage 3 : 4th LuK Challenge Chrono (with Serhiy Honchar) : 5th Overall

: 8th

: 8th Overall

: 9th Overall

;2007 : 2nd Overall

: 4th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali : 4th Overall Regio-Tour : 7th Overall

;2008 : 2nd Overall Tour of Missouri : 2nd Overall Sachsen Tour : 3rd Overall Eneco Tour :

::5th Road race ::8th

;2009 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

::2nd Road race : 3rd Overall

: 6th Overall

: 6th Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Stage 1 ( TTT) : 8th Overall

;2010 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 1st

Overall Vuelta a Andalucía : 2nd Overall

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd Montepaschi Strade Bianche : 5th

: 6th Overall

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

;2012 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Bayern–Rundfahrt ::1st Stages 2 & 4 ( ITT) : 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné : 3rd

, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 5th Overall

: 6th

: 9th Overall

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as ...

;2013 : 1st
Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions wi ...
: 2nd Overall

: 6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné ;2014 : Giro d'Italia ::1st Stages 11 & 20 : 1st Stage 16

: 3rd Overall

;2015 : 7th Overall Eneco Tour

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Michael 1979 births Living people Australian male cyclists Cyclists from New South Wales Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Australia Olympic medalists in cycling Olympic bronze medalists for Australia UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Cyclists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games People from the Australian Capital Territory Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Australian Giro d'Italia stage winners 2014 Tour de France stage winners Australian Tour de France stage winners Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling ACT Academy of Sport alumni Australian track cyclists People from Mendrisio Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics