Lauri Aus (4 November 1970 – 20 July 2003) was an Estonian professional cyclist who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Early life and career

Aus was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

and grew up in the village of Luua in Jõgeva County. His professional cycling career began in 1995 with the French cycling team Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne. After four wins in 1996, he was signed to Casino the following year alongside countryman Jaan Kirsipuu. He remained with this team until his death, which was renamed the AG2R Citroën Team in 2000. Aus won a Tour du Limousin (1997), a Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (1998), Classic Haribo (1998) and a Grand Prix d'Isbergues (1999). In 1999, he was fifth at

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

. In 2000, he became Estonian road champion. In 1992, 1996 and 2000, Aus represented his home country at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

. At the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, he finished fifth in the road race.

Death and legacy

On 20 July 2003, while cycling on the Aovere- Kallaste-

Omedu Omedu is a village in Mustvee Parish, Jõgeva County in eastern Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) References

Villages in Jõgeva County Kreis Dorpat {{Jõgeva-geo-stub ...

road in Tartu County in preparation for a later race in Karksi-Nuia, he was struck from behind by an Opel Ascona. He died of his injuries en route to a hospital, aged thirty-two. He was buried at Raadi cemetery in Tartu. The driver of the vehicle was determined to have been drunk and later sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment. Since 2004, the Lauri Aus GP memorial cycling race is held annually at the

Pirita Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts () of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Pirita occupies a relatively large area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 17,592 (as of 1 November 2014) is relatively small. ...

- Kloostrimetsa race circuit, next to the Pirita Velodrome, in Tallinn in honour of Aus. In July 2019, a memorial bench commemorating Aus was opened to the public in Aus' hometown of Luua, by Aus' parents, children, widow, first coach Kalev Raudsepp, and politician Aivar Kokk.

Major results

;1989 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;1990 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;1992 : 1st Road race, National Road Championships : 5th Road Race, Summer Olympics : 8th Overall Tour of Sweden ;1993 : 1st

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

, National Road Championships ;1994 : 1st

, National Road Championships ;1995 : 9th Grand Prix de Denain ;1996 : 1st

, National Road Championships : 1st Stages 3 & 6 Ruban Granitier Breton : 1st Stages 2 & 6 Tour du Poitou-Charentes ;1997 : 1st Overall Tour de Limousin ::1st Stage 3 : 1st Stage 1 Tour de Pologne : 2nd Cholet-Pays de Loire : 3rd Grand Prix d'Isbergues : 7th Road race,

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 UCI Road World Championships ...

: 8th Overall Tour de Luxembourg ;1998 : 1st Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes ::1st Stage 1 : 1st Classic Haribo : National Road Championships ::2nd

::3rd Road race : 2nd Overall Tour de l'Oise ::1st Stage 1 : 3rd Boucles de Seine Saint-Denis : 8th Brabantse Pijl ;1999 : 1st Grand Prix d'Isbergues : 3rd Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes ::1st Points classification : 3rd Overall Tour de Limousin : 5th

: 7th Overall

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a ...

;2000 : National Road Championships : 1st Road race ::1st

: 2nd

Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise, formerly known as the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February around the city of Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in south ...

;2001 : 3rd Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes ::1st Stage 4 : 8th Overall Paris–Corrèze ;2003 : National Road Championships ::2nd Road race ::2nd

: 3rd Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen : 3rd E.O.S. Tallinn GP

References

External links

* * http://www.cfc.ee/lauri-ausi-fond/lauri-aus * https://web.archive.org/web/20100612000928/http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/palmares/aus_lauri.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Aus, Lauri 1970 births 2003 deaths Burials at Raadi cemetery Estonian male cyclists Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Estonia Cycling road incident deaths Cyclists from Tartu Road incident deaths in Estonia Sport deaths in Estonia 20th-century Estonian sportsmen