Bernhard Eisel (born 17 February 1981) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the , , , and teams. Following his retirement, he worked as an analyst and presenter for Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network (GCN), before joining as a directeur sportif in 2022.
Career Born in Voitsberg, Eisel won his first race when he was 11 years old, since then he has won many races. When he was 17, he moved to Italy to race for the team Rinascita Ormelle, based in Treviso. After that he moved to Gli Amici Piave, the team of Moreno Argentin. In 2001 he joined the team and became a professional cyclist, from 2003 on he joined .
In 2007, Eisel changed to . Eisel enjoyed a successful first season with his main victory coming on Stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve. Eisel established himself as the right-hand man of sprinter and teammate Mark Cavendish, protecting him throughout the flats and mountain stages and forming part of the HTC lead out train that saw Cavendish take many notable victories in the Tour de France and other races. Eisel also had opportunities to ride for himself, mainly in the classics. He won Paris–Bourges in 2008 and Gent–Wevelgem in 2010, and in 2011, Eisel recorded his best placing in a monument by finishing seventh in Paris–Roubaix. Eisel was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011.
Following the announcement that would fold at the end of 2011, Eisel joined Mark Cavendish in moving to . After Cavendish announced he would cut his three-year deal with the team short to move to , Eisel announced he would stay with until the end of the 2015 season.
On 28 September 2015, Sky announced that Eisel would be among the riders leaving the team at the end of the year, following four seasons with the team. The following day it was announced that he had joined Cavendish (and Mark Renshaw, their former teammate at HTC) in signing for – to be renamed as .
On 14 January 2020 he announced his retirement from professional racing. Shortly afterwards he took up a role as a presenter, reporter and commentator for Eurosport and Global Cycling Network (GCN). In November 2021 announced that Eisel would join them as a directeur sportif from the 2022 season.
Major results
1999 5th Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships 2002 1st Radclassic-Gleisdorf 2nd Overall Paris–Corrèze 4th Overall GP Erik Breukink 2003 (2 pro wins) 1st Stage 4 Tour du Limousin 3rd Overall GP Erik Breukink 1st Stage 2 7th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge 2004 1st Stage 3 Criterium des Espoirs 1st Bad Ischl 5th Scheldeprijs 7th Overall Tour de Picardie 2005 (4) Volta ao Algarve 1st Points classification 1st Stages 1 & 4 1st Stage 1 Tour de Suisse 2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul 1st Points classification 1st Stage 4 2006 (3) 1st Stage 4 Tour of Qatar 1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve 1st Grazer Altstadt Kriterium 1st Mayrhofen Europa-Kriterium 2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne 1st Points classification 1st Stage 2a 2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul 5th Paris–Roubaix 7th Gent–Wevelgem 2007 (3) 1st Lancaster Classic 1st Reading Classic 1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve 1st Linz criterium 3rd Philadelphia International Championship 4th Overall Tour of Qatar 8th Trofeo Palma 2008 (2) 1st Paris–Bourges 1st Stage 5 Volta ao Algarve 3rd Reading Classic 4th Philadelphia International Championship 6th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 9th Lancaster Classic 2009 (1) 1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse 1st Welser Sparkassen Innenstadt-Kriterium 2nd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 9th Scheldeprijs 2010 (1) 1st Gent–Wevelgem 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España 7th Paris–Bourges 8th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 9th Paris–Tours 2011 7th Paris–Roubaix 7th Gent–Wevelgem 8th Overall Tour of Qatar 2012 3rd E3 Harelbeke 2013 5th Overall Tour of Qatar 7th Gent–Wevelgem 10th Milan–San Remo 2014 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 2017 1st Mountains classification, Arctic Race of Norway
Grand Tour general classification results timeline Grand Tour 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Giro d'Italia 63 — — — — — — — — 152 — 138 143 — — Tour de France — 131 143 107 121 144 150 155 160 146 — 126 — 171 153 Vuelta a España — — DNF DNF — — — DNF — — — — — — —
Classics results timeline Monument 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019Milan–San Remo 12 DNF DNF 23 34 107 DNF 44 47 DNF10 65 DNF — 185 — 128Tour of Flanders 14 103 13 15 86 11 72 16 14 54 DNF 60 99 DNF 104 — 117Paris–Roubaix 22 35 495 65 17 47 387 86 12 13 71 44 36 — 66Liège–Bastogne–LiègeDid not contest during careerGiro di Lombardia Classic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 18 — — — — 132 1218 95 23 64 81 71 — — DNF —Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne DNF 35 — — DNF DNF2 — — 113 — 45 83 — — DNF —E3 Saxo Bank Classic 35 — 16 64 736 11 — —3 36 54 86 — DNF — DNFGent–Wevelgem DNF DNF DNF7 26 160 DNF17 1297 24 DNF — 76 — DNFScheldeprijs —5 — — 51 —9 85 141 62 119 109 13 121 40 — —Paris–Tours 55 — — — — DNF 449 — — — — — 43 106 DNF DNF
+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish
References
External links
Bernhard Eisel profile at Team Sky