Tom Steels (born 2 September 1971, Sint-Gillis-Waas) is a former Belgian 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, for which he was thrown out of that year's Tour.
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. He was also national champion in 2002 and 2004 and won five more stages in the Tour. 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 it was announced that he would work as a coach for Quick Step, a Protour team, during 2011.
Famous quotes containing the word tom:
“The man that hails you Tom or Jack,
And proves by thumps upon your back
How he esteems your merit,
Is such a friend, that one had need
Be very much his friend indeed
To pardon or to bear it.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)