Full name Georg Totschnig Current team Retired 1994 Polti | Discipline Road Name Georg Totschnig Rider type Climbing specialist Role Bicycler | |
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Olympic medals Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's individual road race Similar People Gerrit Glomser, Daniele Nardello, Bobby Julich, Laurent Brochard, Erik Zabel | ||
Georg Totschnig (born 25 May 1971) is an Austrian former road bicycle racer who raced professionally between 1993 and 2006. He won the Austrian National Road Race Championships in 1997 and 2003. He also rode at three Olympic Games.
Career
In 1989, Totschnig became the Junior Austrian National Time Trial Champion. He turned professional with the Italian Lampre - Polti team in 1993, remaining with the team in 1994 when Polti became the main sponsor for the first time. Totschnig rode for the German Deutsche Telekom team from 1997 to 2000, before joining his final team, Gerolsteiner, in 2001.
In the 2005 Tour de France stage 14, he was in the breakaway which ultimately led to his victory. Having split open the breakaway group on the penultimate climb of the day from fellow breakaway companions Stefano Garzelli and Walter Bénéteau, he was able to hold on to his first place to second placed Lance Armstrong on the final climb to Ax 3 Domaines, winning by 56 seconds. He was the first Austrian to win a stage in the Tour de France since Max Bulla in 1931.
He was voted Austrian Sportsman of the year in 2005. Totschnig was surprised to win the accolade, as he had not expected to win more votes than the skier Benjamin Raich.
Totschnig's younger brother, Harald Totschnig is also a professional cyclist.