Tom Zirbel (born October 30, 1978) is an American former

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

cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2016 for the , and teams.

Career

Born in

Clear Lake, Iowa Clear Lake is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,687 at the 2020 census. The city is named for the large lake on which it is located. It is the home of a number of marinas, state parks and tourism-related ...

, Zirbel rode for from 2006 to 2009. He came fourth in the

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 ...

time trial in September 2009, and had signed to join

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle racing, road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, i ...

team the following season. In December 2009, a urine test taken at the

United States National Time Trial Championships The United States National Time Trial Championships are held annually to decide the American champions in this cycling discipline, across various age and gender categories. Originally, in 1975, the time trial event distance was 25 miles. It lat ...

the previous August, in which Zirbel came second, tested positive for

dehydroepiandrosterone Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), also known as androstenolone, is an endogenous steroid hormone precursor. It is one of the most abundant circulating steroids in humans. DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands, the gonads, and the brain. It funct ...

(DHEA). Zirbel denied having taken the substance knowingly, but he nevertheless voluntarily accepted a two-year suspension, and immediately announced his retirement. His suspension was reduced in March 2011 to 18 months, which had already been served, in recognition of assistance given to the

United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti-doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

(USADA). He suggested that, despite earlier comments about retiring, he would seek to resume his racing career. He maintains that he ingested the banned product inadvertently. In 2011, Zirbel rode for . On May 28, 2011, he placed 2nd in the

, behind

David Zabriskie David Zabriskie (born January 12, 1979) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stag ...

. He joined for the 2012 season. In an interview with '' cyclingnews.com'' in early 2016, Zirbel confirmed that the upcoming season would be his last as a professional cyclist before retiring. In September of that year, he set a new American national

hour record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious record ...

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of above sea level it is pre ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, completing to break the 1997 record of set by Norman Alvis.

Major results

;2007 :

Tour of Southland The Tour of Southland is a road bicycle racing stage race held in the Southland region of New Zealand. From 2005 until 2009, the Tour of Southland has been part of the UCI Oceania Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle ...

::1st Stages 1 (

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication *Tank phone, Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional typ ...

) & 9 : 10th

Tour de Leelanau Tour de Leelanau was a USA Cycling road bicycle racing event held annually from 2005 to 2008 in Leelanau County, Michigan (near Traverse City). Starting in 2007, the men's event is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and serves a ...

;2008 : 1st Stage 3

Tour of the Gila The Tour of the Gila is a cycling stage race for both men and women located in New Mexico, United States. It is sponsored by the component maker SRAM. The "Gila" began in 1987. Beginning in 2012, the men's Gila has been added to the UCI Americ ...

: 1st Stage 5

Tour of Utah The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, was an annual multi-day road cycling race; traversing the states of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.Stage 5, in the 2014 edition, started in Evanston, Wyoming. Stage 1, in the 2015 edition, looped through Bear Lake C ...

: 2nd

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 : 3rd Overall

Tour of Elk Grove The Tour of Elk Grove was an annual bicycle race held in Elk Grove Village, IL in the United States. First staged in 2006, the race covered more than 277 kilometers (172 Miles) and took place over three days. The event featured 16 professional a ...

::1st Prologue : 8th Overall

Cascade Cycling Classic The Cascade Cycling Classic was the longest running elite road bicycle racing stage race in the United States (1980–2019), with 2018 being the only year the race was not held. The race was held again in 2019, but then canceled due to Covid in 20 ...

;2009 : 2nd

, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

Redlands Bicycle Classic The Redlands Bicycle Classic is the longest continuous running invitational, professional cycle sport, cycling stage race in American bike racing, located in Redlands, California, United States. The race began in 1985 after the 1984 Summer Olympic ...

: 2nd Overall

Nature Valley Grand Prix The North Star Grand Prix is a men's and women's road bicycle racing stage race held each June in Minnesota, United States, as part of the North Star Bicycle Festival. An event was added in North Mankato in 2016. The North Star Grand Prix is one ...

::1st Stage 1 (

) : 4th

: 4th Overall

Tour of Missouri The Tour of Missouri was a professional road bicycle racing stage race in Missouri that started on September 11, 2007 with six days of racing. The organizers, who also run the Tour de Georgia and the Amgen Tour of California, billed it as the thir ...

;2011 : 2nd

, National Road Championships : 3rd

Univest Grand Prix The Reading 120, Thompson Bucks County Classic and Univest Grand Prix were professional bicycle road races founded in 1998 by former professional cyclist and two-time US national champion John Eustice, and sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Interna ...

;2012 : 2nd Overall

Vuelta del Uruguay The Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay is a stage cycling race held annually in Uruguay. It was created in 1939 and was a category 2.2 event of the UCI America Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which wer ...

: 5th

Chrono Champenois The Chrono Champenois is a European individual time trial bicycle race held around Bétheny in France, in the Champagne region. The race has been organised as a 1.2 event since 1989 for women's and since 1998 there is also a men's race which i ...

: 6th Overall

::1st Stage 1 (

) : 7th

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 (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive wi ...

(with

Scott Zwizanski Scott Zwizanski (born May 29, 1977) is an American cyclist. He won the Tour de Beauce in 2009. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Palmarès ;2003 :1st Tour of Christiana ::1st stage 2 ;2004 :2nd overall Tobago Cycling Classic ;2005 :1s ...

) ;2013 : 1st MaillotUSA

, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 4

Volta ao Alentejo The Volta ao Alentejo ( Portuguese; ) is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Alentejo, Portugal. Since 2010, it has been organised as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle ...

: 9th Overall

::1st Stage 3 (

) ;2014 : 2nd

, National Road Championships ;2015 : 1st Stage 3 (

)

;2016 : 1st Stage 3 (

)

: 2nd

, National Road Championships

References

External links

Team Profile
* American male cyclists 1978 births Living people People from Clear Lake, Iowa {{US-cycling-bio-1970s-stub