Tyler Farrar (born June 2, 1984) is an American former

road racing cyclist 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 comm ...

, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2017 for the , , , and squads. Farrar's achievements include winning the 2009

Circuit Franco-Belge The Circuit Franco-Belge is a single day cycling race held annually in Belgium and France. The race was previously known as the Tour de Wallonie-Picarde in 2011 and as the Tour de l'Eurométropole from 2012 to 2021. From 2005 to 2015 the Tour de ...

and the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Vattenfall Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is always around 250 ...

. In

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in fo ...

, Farrar has won six individual stages, as well as assisting in two

team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

wins.

Cycling career

Farrar started racing at 13, and rode for in 2003, in 2004, and in 2006 and 2007. In April 2006, he crashed near the finish of the

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 ...

, which resulted in a broken collarbone, causing him to miss most of the season. For the 2008 season, he transferred to . He has won stages in the

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 ...

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

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 ...

Three Days of De Panne 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

, and the

USA Pro Cycling Challenge The USA Pro Cycling Challenge, also known as USA Pro Challenge, was an annual multi-day professional road bicycle racing stage race that first took place in Colorado in 2011. Originally announced on August 4, 2010 by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter ...

. He wore the

yellow jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

on stage three of the

2008 Tour of California The 2008 Tour of California was the third edition of an eight-day, 650-mile (1,045 km) stage race, which began in Palo Alto (Stanford University), then raced through the California redwoods, wine country and the Pacific Coast and finished in P ...

after winning intermediate sprint points during stage two. Tyler Farrar

Until the end of his career in 2017, Farrar lived in the Belgian city of

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, where he was made an honorary citizen in 2012. He was fluent in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and was popular in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. In May 2011, Farrar withdrew from the

as a mark of respect for his friend and training partner

Wouter Weylandt Wouter Weylandt (27 September 1984 – 9 May 2011) was a Belgian professional cyclist for UCI ProTeam and later for . His first major win was the 17th stage of the 2008 Vuelta a España. He also won the third stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia. He ...

, who was killed in an accident during the race. This tragedy occurred on stage 3 and on stage 4 the teams agreed not to race at all as they completed the entire stage at a steady pace with each team taking ten kilometers at the front with no attacks being made and the peloton staying together the entire time. Three kilometres from the finish Weylandt's eight teammates on Team Leopard-Trek came to the front and were also joined by Farrar, even though he was riding for Garmin-Cervelo. The nine riders rode together side by side as the rest of the peloton stayed back and as they approached the finish they did so arm in arm for the final fifty or so meters, all crossing the line together. The entire Leopard-Trek team and Farrar bowed out of the race following this tribute to their fallen teammate. On July 4, 2011, Farrar won his first

stage, Stage 3 from Olonne-sur-Mer to Redon, becoming the first American to win a stage of the Tour on the

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

. It would be ten years before another American would win a Tour de France stage. Farrar crashed four times in the

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs ...

, including a sprint-finish crash, after which he stormed the team bus to confront

Tom Veelers Tom Veelers (born 14 September 1984) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016 for Löwik–Tegeltoko, the and . Born in Ootmarsum, Overijssel, Veelers won the 2006 edition of U23 Paris– ...

, whom he blamed for the incident. He later took his first two wins of the season at the

2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge The 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge was the second edition of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge stage race. The race took place from August 20–26, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour. The race began in Durango, wound its way through ...

. In the opening stage of that race, Farrar arrived in Telluride with a field of 57 riders and won a reduced bunch sprint at the finish. Afterwards, he stated that he was surprised to have survived the mountainous terrain to be able to contend for the sprint. Farrar won again in the fifth stage of the race, dedicating the win to his former

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

partner

Mike Creed Michael Creed (born January 8, 1981) is a former American cyclist and U23 time trial national champion. He was the sports director of Team SmartStop in the 2014 and 2015 seasons before being appointed head coach of USA Paralympics' paracycling ...

, who had been raising money for the victims of the

Waldo Canyon fire The Waldo Canyon fire was a forest fire that started approximately northwest of Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 23, 2012, and was declared 100 percent contained on July 10, 2012, after no smoke plumes were visible on a small portion of the ...

s. Due to his two wins he consolidated enough points to win the

green jersey In road bicycle racing (e.g. Grand Tour stage races), the green jersey is a distinctive racing jersey worn by the most consistent highest finisher in the competition. While the overall race leader in the Tour de France will wear the yellow je ...

. Later in the season, Farrar crashed heavily during the first stage of the

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 th ...

, reportedly suffering a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

. In October, Farrar was given clearance to train by the team doctor, Prentice Steffen, who stated: "The health of the athlete is always our top priority." Farrar has a reputation for causing or being involved in crashes.

Alessandro Petacchi Alessandro Petacchi (born 3 January 1974) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2015. A specialist Cycling sprinter, sprinter, Petacchi has won 48 Grand Tour (cycling), grand tour stages ...

noted that Farrar had crashed 18 times in the 2013–2014 seasons, commenting "There is probably a reason for this". Farrar denies using reckless or uncoordinated tactics, and ascribed most of his numerous crashes to "realities of modern cycling". After seven years with , Farrar signed with for the 2015 and 2016 seasons and again for the 2017 season. After riding in the

2017 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number) * One of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017, 2117 Science * Chlorine, a halogen in the periodic table * 17 Thetis, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American maga ...

, Farrar announced his retirement from competition. When Farrar took the stage victory in the 2011 Tour de France it gave him a stage win in all three grand tours.

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 cycl ...

is the only other American to have accomplished this.

Post-cycling

After retiring from cycle racing, Farrar became a

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

, as part of the City of Kirkland Fire Department.

Major results

;2001 : 10th Time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships ;2002 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour de l'Abitibi Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directe ...

::1st Stage 4 ;2003 : 9th

Ronde van Vlaanderen U23 Tour of Flanders U23 () is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race. It is the version of 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 ...

;2004 : 1st MaillotUSA

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 Under-23 Road Championships : 1st Stage 7

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

: 2nd

Criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

, National Road Championships : 9th

Paris–Tours Espoirs Paris–Tours Espoirs () is a French single-day road bicycle racing, road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race is held as a 1.2U rac ...

: 10th

La Côte Picarde La Côte Picarde was a professional cycling race held between 1986 and 2015 in Picardy, France. It was held as part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 200 ...

;2005 (1 pro win) : 1st MaillotUSA

, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 4

Ronde de l'Isard The Ronde de l'Isard is a road bicycle race held annually in France. It is organized as a 2.2U event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union C ...

: 1st Stage 2

: 2nd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships : 2nd

Grand Prix de Waregem The Grand Prix Waregem was a cycling race held annually in Belgium. It was part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale ...

: 5th Wachovia Classic : 10th Time trial, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships ;2006 : 5th Overall

Tour du Poitou-Charentes Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a road bicycle race held annually in the former region of Poitou-Charentes (now Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

: 5th

Grand Prix de Rennes Grand Prix Cycliste de la Ville de Rennes was a professional cycle road race held in Rennes, France until 2008 when it was last organised, with the organisers citing financial difficulties as the reason. Since 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 ...

;2007 (1) :

GP CTT Correios de Portugal The GP CTT Correios de Portugal is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions ...

::1st Points classification ::1st Stage 2 : 9th

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Be ...

;2008 (1) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of the Bahamas ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stages 2 & 3 : 1st Stage 1

: 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

Tour de Georgia The Tour de Georgia was a U.S. professional road cycling stage race across the state of Georgia. The race began in 2003 and was contested six times until 2008. It was one of the three events in North America ranked as Hors Classe ( 2.HC) stage ra ...

: 4th

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 ...

: 5th

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 ...

: 6th

Philadelphia International Championship The Philadelphia International Championship was an annual bicycle race held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was described as "America's top international cycling classic, and one of the richest and most prestigious one day races outside of Eur ...

: 8th Lehigh Valley Classic : 9th

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand Prix d'Isbergues is a professional cycle road race held in Isbergues, Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which ...

;2009 (11) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour de Wallonie-Picarde ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stages 1 & 2 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Delta Tour Zeeland Delta Tour Zeeland was a road bicycle stage race held annually in June in Zeeland, Netherlands. In 2008, the race was organized as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour as the organizers of the one-day race Delta Profronde and of the OZ Wielerweeken ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Prologue : 1st

Eneco Tour The Benelux Tour (previously known as the Eneco Tour and the BinckBank Tour) is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the ori ...

::1st Stages 1, 2 & 4 : 1st Stage 3

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of th ...

: 1st Stage 11

;2010 (8) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st

Points classification : 1st

: 1st

Scheldeprijs The Scheldeprijs is a road bicycle racing, cycling race in Flanders and the Netherlands which starts in Terneuzen, crosses the Scheldt River, and finishes in Schoten. Until 2018 it was held entirely in Belgium. The event, ranked as a UCI race cla ...

::1st Stages 2 & 10 :

::1st Stages 5 & 21 : 1st Stage 3

: 2nd GP Ouest–France : 3rd

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad , previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and holds significant pre ...

: 5th

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 ...

: 6th

Coppa Bernocchi The Coppa Bernocchi is a European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before joining the UCI ProSeries in 2020. In 1 ...

: 9th

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

: 10th

UCI World Ranking The UCI men's road racing world rankings are a points system used to rank men's road cycling riders. Points are awarded based on results in UCI sanctioned races, with points varying widely based on the importance and prestige of the race. The ...

;2011 (4) : 1st Trofeo Palma de Mallorca : 1st Trofeo Cala Millor :

::1st Stages 2 ( TTT) & 3 : 1st Stage 2

: 1st Stage 2

Ster ZLM Toer The ZLM Tour is a cycling race held over five stages, held in the southern Netherlands and Belgium as a 2.Pro race on the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road bicycle racer, road cycling tour. It was inaugurat ...

: 3rd

Dwars door Vlaanderen ''Dwars door Vlaanderen'' ('Across Flanders') is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI Wor ...

: 3rd

: 4th

: 10th 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 ...

;2012 (2) :

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

: 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

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 Overall

Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the firs ...

::1st Stage 2 ( TTT) : 2nd

: 5th Overall

Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen Dwars door West-Vlaanderen is a road bicycle race through the Belgian province of West Flanders. History The race was originally created unter the name Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen (''English'': Tour of the Flemish Ardennes) in 1945 as a one-day ...

;2013 (2) : 1st Stage 4

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 ...

: 2nd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca : 2nd Trofeo Campos–Santanyí–Ses Salines : 3rd Overall

Tour de l'Eurométropole The Circuit Franco-Belge is a single day cycling race held annually in Belgium and France. The race was previously known as the Tour de Wallonie-Picarde in 2011 and as the Tour de l'Eurométropole from 2012 to 2021. From 2005 to 2015 the Tour de ...

::1st Stage 3 : 4th

: 6th

;2014 (1) :

Tour of Beijing The Tour of Beijing was an annual professional stage bicycle road race held in Beijing, China. History Its first edition took place in October 2011, as the penultimate event in the 2011 UCI World Tour. The tour was a partnership between the U ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 3 : 2nd

: 2nd

: 4th

: 8th Overall

: 8th

E3 Harelbeke E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

: 10th Overall

::1st

Points classification ;2015 : 9th

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

Endorsements

Farrar appears in the opening titles of

ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...

morning

weather forecast Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for thousands of years an ...

s. The forecasts are sponsored by Transitions Lenses who also sponsor Farrar's

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

. In 2010, Transition Lenses featured Farrar in its online advertisements.Tyler Farrar Transition Lenses ad
Bike Radar

References

External links

Cyclingnews.com: An interview with Tyler Farrar

Team profile

VeloNews.com: Interview with Farrar after his 2010 Giro d'Italia stage 2 win
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar, Tyler 1984 births American male cyclists Living people Sportspeople from Wenatchee, Washington American Giro d'Italia stage winners American Vuelta a España stage winners American Tour de France stage winners Cyclists from Washington (state) Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for the United States 2011 Tour de France stage winners 21st-century American firefighters 21st-century American sportsmen