Leontien Martha Henrica Petronella Zijlaard-van Moorsel (born 22 March 1970) is a Dutch retired racing cyclist. She was a dominant cyclist in the 1990s and early 2000s, winning four gold medals at the Olympic Games and holding the hour record for women from 2003 until 2015.
Career
At the age of eight, she competed in her first cycling race. She made her Tour Féminin debut in 1989 at the age of 19, finishing 31st overall. She went on to win the Tour Féminin twice in the first half of the 1990s, establishing a notable rivalry with Jeannie Longo.
Van Moorsel dropped out of cycling in 1994 with anorexia nervosa but recovered to compete at the World Championships in 1998, winning the time trial and coming second in the road race.
At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, van Moorsel won gold medals on the road (road race and time trial), and on the track (3 km pursuit). She became the first female Olympian in history to win gold medals in two separate disciplines at the same Olympic games.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she fell in the penultimate lap of the road race and was stretchered off and taken to the hospital by ambulance, but nevertheless successfully defended her time trial title two days later.
She set a new world hour record for women of 46.065 km, in 2003 in Mexico City, which was not improved upon for almost 12 years, when UCI rule changes prompted a new succession of attempts.
Van Moorsel retired from professional cycling after the 2004 Olympics.
In 2017 Van Moorsel became director of the Women's Amstel Gold Race.
In September 2017, Van Moorsel was accused by sports physician Peter Janssen of using EPO in 2000 and 2001.Thomas Blom & Misha Wessel, "Oud-wielerarts: Leontien van Moorsel gebruikte epo" (in Dutch), de Volkskrant, 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
Major results
1985 1st National Novice Road Race Championships
1987 1st National Novice Road Race Championships
1988 1st National Road Race Championships
1989 1st National Road Race Championships 1st Stage 1 Tour of Norway
1990 1st UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Individual Pursuit) 1st UCI Road World Championships Team Time Trial 1st National Road Race Championships 2nd Overall Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin National Track Championship 3rd Points race 3rd Individual sprint 3rd Chrono des Nations
1991 1st UCI Road World Championships Road Race 1st National Track Championships (Team pursuit) 1st Overall Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin 3rd National Road Race Championships
1992 1st National Road Race Championships National Track Championship 1st Individual pursuit 2nd Points race 1st Overall Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale
1993 1st UCI Road World Championships Road Race 1st Overall Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale 1st National Road Race Championships 2nd Overall Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1997 1st National Time Trial Championships National Track Championships 1st Individual pursuit 2nd Points race 1st Overall Boekel 1st Stages 1 & 3
1998 1st UCI Road World Championships Time Trial National Road Championships 1st Road Race 1st Time Trial National Track Championships 1st Individual pursuit 1st Points race 1st Overall Ster van Zeeland 1st Stages 1 & 3 1st Parel van de Veluwe 1st Omloop der Kempen 2nd Overall Boels Rental Ladies Tour 1st Stage 1 2nd UCI Road World Championships Road Race 2nd UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Individual Pursuit)
1999 1st UCI Road World Championships Time Trial National Road Championships 1st Road Race 1st Time Trial National Track Championships 1st Individual pursuit 1st Points race 1st Overall Boels Rental Ladies Tour 1st Stages 2 & 7 1st Overall Ster van Zeeland 1st Stages 2 & 3 1st Overall Greenery International 1st Stages 1, 2 & 3 1st Overall Boekel 1st Prologue, Stages 1 & 2 1st Damesronde van Drenthe 1st Omloop van Kanaleneiland 1st Omloop der Kempen 2nd Rotterdam Tour
2000 Olympic Games 1st Road Race 1st Time Trial 1st Individual pursuit 2nd Points race National Road Championships 1st Time Trial 2nd Road Race National Track Championships 1st Individual pursuit 1st Points race 1st Overall Emakumeen Bira 1st Overall Trophée d'Or Féminin 1st Overall Ster van Zeeland 1st Stages 1 & 2 1st Overall Westfriese Dorpenomloop 1st Prologue & Stage 1 1st Overall Boekel 1st Stages 1, 2a & 2b 1st Ronde van het Ronostrand 1st Omloop der Kempen 1st Stages 1, 2 & 4 Giro d'Italia Femminile
2001 1st UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Individual Pursuit) 1st National Time Trial Championships National Track Championships 1st Individual pursuit 1st Points race 1st Overall Ster van Zeeland 1st Stages 2 & 3 1st Overall Boekel 1st Stages 2 & 3 1st Acht van Chaam 1st Egmond-Pier-Egmond 1st Souvenir Magali Pache 1st Profronde van Stiphout 1st Profronde van Surhuisterveen 1st Prologue Giro d'Italia Femminile 1st Stage 1 Boels Rental Ladies Tour 3rd Amstel Gold Race
2002 1st UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Individual Pursuit) National Road Championships 1st Time Trial 2nd Road Race National Track Championships 1st Individual pursuit 1st Points race 1st Overall RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden 1st Stages 1, 2 & 3a 1st Overall Westfriese Dorpenomloop 1st Stages 1 & 2 1st Amstel Gold Race 1st Damesronde van Drenthe 1st Acht van Chaam 1st Egmond-Pier-Egmond 1st Profronde van Stiphout,
2003 1st UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Individual Pursuit) 1st Overall Boekel 1st Stage 3 1st Omloop van Borsele 2nd National Time Trial Championships World Hour record
2004 Olympic Games 1st Time Trial 3rd Individual pursuit 1st National Road Race Championships 1st Ronde van Gelderland 1st Omloop der Kempen 1st Profronde van Stiphout 1st Acht van Chaam
Personal life Van Moorsel married former track cyclist Michael Zijlaard in October 1995. They have a daughter, born in 2007.Dochter voor Van Moorsel NU.nl, 7 July 2007.
See also
List of Dutch Olympic cyclists List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
References
External links