Olivier Asmaker (born 13 March 1973) is a French former

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

. He was born in Savigny-sur-Orge near Paris, but spent his childhood in

Rodez Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...

Career

A brilliant amateur rider who won the 1997 Coupe de France Amateurs with his team of

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

, he began cycling as professional on 1 September 1997 in the Belgian team . Three seasons of training followed from there, during which he took part in many major races, such as the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. His results during these years were rather modest: a fifth place in the

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation co ...

's stage and a fourteenth place in the Grand Prix de Wallonie. At the end of his contract at the end of the 2000 season,

Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...

held one hand to Olivier by helping him to join the new Danish team , which was his best season. He took part in a high number of races from the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...

in Australia in January to

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

in October. On 18 May 2001, in the first stage of the

Tour de Picardie The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

, Asmaker was in a breakaway with several other well known riders, such as David Millar, Sylvain Chavanel, Robbie McEwen, Baden Cooke or Iñigo Landaluze. Asmaker attacked in the last kilometre and won the stage. He took the leader's jersey and kept it until the end of the race, in spite of the unceasing attacks of David Millar. CSC-Tiscali obtained an invitation for the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

thanks to his performance partly. But in a short descent of stage 1 of the

, he fell and broke his collarbone, so was unable to start the race. In 2002, he raced a lot with his friend

. On April, he finished third in the

. He was not selected to ride the

, after being replaced. He raced his last race as professional was in the 2002 Paris–Tours, where he was part of a 150 kilometre breakaway with his teammate Jakob Piil, who won the race ahead of Jacky Durand. At the end of the season, his contract wasn't renewed. He sought out another team, but was unable to find one. In 2003, he returned in the amateurs with the US Montauban team. On his first race, he won the GP de Montastruc ahead of the best riders of the Pyrenees region. The following year, he won the GP of Vougy solo and the first stage of the Tour des Deux-Sèvres. At the end of the 2005 season, he ended his career to devote himself to his future job as a policeman near

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

Major results

;2001 : 1st Overall

::1st Stage 1 ;2002 : 2nd

Boucles de l'Aulne Boucles de l'Aulne is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in May or June around Châteaulin, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2006, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It was previously known as Grand ...

: 3rd Overall

Results on the Giro d'Italia

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

: DNF on stage 19

External links

Trap-Friis profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asmaker, Olivier 1973 births Living people French male cyclists People from Savigny-sur-Orge Cyclists from Essonne Sportspeople from Rodez Cyclists from Occitania (administrative region) 21st-century French sportsmen