Tom Steels
# Tom Steels

Tom Steels (born 2 September 1971) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, specialising in sprint finishes and one-day races. He was one of the top sprinters in the peloton.

Steels competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, in the Men's 1000 metres Time Trial, finishing 19th.

Steels began his professional cycling career in 1994 with the Vlaanderen 2002 team, winning eight times in his first two seasons. His breakthrough was after he signed with Mapei in 1996. That year he won Omloop Het Volk, and Gent–Wevelgem. In 1997, he rode in his first Tour de France, and looked capable of a stage win after coming second on Stage 2. However, during the sprint for the finish for the sixth stage he found himself blocked and boxed in by other sprinters and in frustration threw his water bottle at another rider, an offence for which he was disqualified from that year's Tour. As a result, he earned the nickname "Tom Bidon".

His best season was 1998 when he won the national championship for the second time and returned to the Tour de France to win four stages. The points jersey would also have been his, as the people in front of him all admitted to doping. Steels won five more stages in the 1999 and 2000 Tour de France. He was also national champion in 2002 and 2004 which made him the record holder of Belgian road championships. 2006 was his first year as a professional that he failed to win a race.

Steels retired from racing at the end of the 2008 season, during which he raced for Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner. In October 2010 he started as a coach for Quick Step, a Protour team, during 2011.

He is the uncle of fellow racing cyclist Stijn Steels.

## Major results

### 1994

    1st Stage 10 Tour de l'Avenir
* GP Zele

    3rd Grand Prix Rik Van Steenbergen

### 1995

    1st Grote 1-MeiPrijs
    1st Grand Prix Rik Van Steenbergen
    1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs
    1st Dwars door ’t Pajottenland
    1st Stage 6 K-Mart West-Virginia Mountain Classic
    1st Stage 5 Tour of the Netherlands
    2nd Dwars door België
    2nd Belgian National Road Race Championships
    5th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
    6th Lancaster Classic
    8th Le Samyn
    9th Overall Tour de l'Oise
    10th Reading Classic
    10th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens

### 1996

    1st Omloop Het Volk
    1st Gent–Wevelgem
    1st De Kustpijl
    Vuelta a España
       1st Stages 4 & 22
    1st Stage 2 Tour Méditerranéen
    1st Stage 5 Volta a Galicia
    1st Criterium Aalst
    2nd Scheldeprijs
    2nd Rund um Köln
    2nd Paris–Tours
    3rd Binche-Tournai-Binche
    5th Belgian National Road Race Championships
    9th Grand Prix Cholet-Pays de la Loire

### 1997

    1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
    1st Trofeo Calvià
    1st Schaal Sels
    Paris–Nice
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 1, 2, 4 & 7
    Tour de Wallonie
       1st Stages 4 & 5
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
    1st Stage 7 Tour de Suisse
    2nd Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    3rd Trofeo Manacor
    6th Trofeo Alcúdia
    10th Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem

### 1998

    1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
    1st Trofeo Sóller
    1st Trofeo Calvià
    1st Dwars door België
    Vuelta a Andalucía
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2 & 5
    Paris–Nice
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 3 & 4
    Tour de France
       1st Stages 1, 12, 18 & 21
    3rd Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
    6th Omloop Mandel
    7th Trofeo Manacor
    10th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

### 1999

    1st Gent–Wevelgem
    Vuelta a Andalucía
       1st Stages 1 & 5
    Tour de France
       1st Stages 2, 3 & 17
    1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice
    1st Stage 1 Driedaagse van de Panne
    2nd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
    3rd Trofeo Alcúdia
    3rd Omloop Het Volk
    3rd Paris–Roubaix
    4th Dwars door België
    4th Omloop Mandel
    5th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
    6th Trofeo Luis Puig
    6th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Leif Hoste)

### 2000

    Tour de France
       1st Stages 2 & 3
    Tour de Wallonie
       1st Stages 2 & 6
    1st Stage 4 Tour Méditerranéen
    1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice
    1st Stage 2 Driedaagse van de Panne
    4th Belgian National Road Race Championships
    6th Omloop Het Volk
    9th Scheldeprijs

### 2001

    Tour of Sweden
       1st Stages 2 & 3
    1st Stage 1 Deutschland Tour
    3rd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
    7th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne

### 2002

    1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
    1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk
    1st Stage 6 Volta a Catalunya
    2nd Trofeo Alcúdia
    2nd Scheldeprijs
    4th Trofeo Cala Millor
    6th Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
    8th Schaal Sels

### 2003

    Tour of Belgium
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 1
    1st Stage 3 Étoile de Bessèges
    1st Stage 7 Tour of Austria
    1st Heusden criterium
    9th Nokere Koerse

### 2004

    1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
    Tour of Austria
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 1 & 3
    1st Stage 1 Étoile de Bessèges
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
    1st St Niklaas criterium
    6th Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    9th Châteauroux Classic

### 2005

    Étoile de Bessèges
       1st Stages 2 & 4
    1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
    1st Stage 3a Driedaagse van de Panne
    2nd St Niklaas criterium
    7th Gent–Wevelgem

### 2006

    9th Paris–Tours
    9th Nationale Sluitingsprijs

### 2007

    9th Eindhoven Team Time Trial

### 2008

    2nd St Niklaas criterium
