Luke Rowe Explained
| Luke Rowe |
| Caption: | Rowe, Gent. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023. |
| Fullname: | Luke Rowe |
| Birth Date: | 10 March 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Cardiff, Wales |
| Weight: | 720NaN0 |
| Role: | Rider |
| Ridertype: | Rouleur |
| Amateurteam1: | Maindy Flyers |
| Amateurteam2: | Cardiff Ajax CC |
| Amateuryears3: | 2006 |
| Amateurteam3: | Glendene CC / Bike Trax |
| Amateuryears4: | 2007–2011 |
| Proyears1: | 2012– |
| Proteam1: | [1] [2] |
Luke Rowe (born 10 March 1990) is a Welsh racing cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam .[3]
Biography
Born in Cardiff, Rowe began racing at a young age, initially riding with his parents on a tandem. He began to enjoy cycling and became a member of the Maindy Flyers, based at Maindy Centre. As a junior, he was a member of British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme,[4] His father, Courtney Rowe, coaches the Paralympian Simon Richardson, while his brother Matthew Rowe and his sister-in-law Dani Rowe also competed professionally.
Track career
Rowe made his European debut as a member of the team pursuit squad who took the gold medal at the 2007 UEC European Track Championships. He finished second in the 2008 European Road Race Championships, and won the Madison, along with Mark Christian, and the silver in the team pursuit at the 2008 European Track Championships.[5]
Team Sky / INEOS Grenadiers (2012–2024)
Rowe joined for the 2012 season as a neo-pro, having signed a two-year deal.[6] [7] He took his first professional victory in September 2012 by winning the opening stage of the Tour of Britain. Rowe made his Grand Tour debut at the 2013 Vuelta a España.[8]
Rowe represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, 2014,[9] and finished sixth in the road race, which was won by teammate Geraint Thomas. Rowe rode the 2014 Vuelta a España, and helped Chris Froome to finish second overall.
Rowe enjoyed a strong start to the 2015 season with fourth place at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and seventh overall at the Tour of Qatar.[10] Rowe then had a breakthrough classics campaign, placing ninth in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (which was won by teammate Ian Stannard, thirteenth in E3 Harelbeke (won by teammate Geraint Thomas) and an impressive eighth in Paris–Roubaix, ahead of Bradley Wiggins (18th) who was riding his final race for Sky.[11] He was selected in Sky's team for the Tour de France,[12] [13] becoming the third Welsh rider to compete in the Tour after Colin Lewis and Geraint Thomas.[14]
By finishing in 167th place in the 2017 Tour de France, Rowe earned the unofficial "lanterne rouge", a recognition reserved for the last rider to finish. In August 2017, Rowe fractured the tibia and fibula in his right leg, when he jumped into shallow water while whitewater rafting at his brother's stag party in Prague.[15] Having feared he would be unlikely to race for up to a year,[16] Rowe returned to racing earlier than expected, in late February at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Tour,[17] having originally planned to return for the Commonwealth Games.
In February 2020, Rowe signed a new contract with, extending his contract with the team until the end of the 2023 season.[18]
In May 2024, Rowe announced his retirement from professional cycling. He had signed new two-year contract with the Ineos Grenadiers in October 2023, but had not raced since suffering a concussion in a crash at the E3 Saxo Classic in March and said that had been a factor in his decision. . Rowe hopes to end career at tour of britain in September 2024.
Major results
Road
- 2007
1st Points classification, Junior Tour of Wales
- 2008
2nd Road race, UEC European Junior Championships
- 2009
1st ZLM Tour
6th Coppa Colli Briantei Internazionale
- 2010
1st Gran Premio di Poggiana
3rd Gran Premio Industrie del Marmo
4th Gran Premio Palio del Recioto
5th Tour of Flanders U23
6th Overall Tour de Berlin
8th Trofeo Franco Balestra Memorial Metelli
9th Road race, Commonwealth Games
- 2011
1st ZLM Tour
1st Stage 7 Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23
5th Overall Tour de Normandie
8th La Côte Picarde
9th Overall Olympia's Tour
- 2012 (1 pro win)
1st Stage 1 Tour of Britain
2nd Duo Normand (with Alex Dowsett)
- 2013
National Championships
5th Road race
5th Time trial
9th Overall Tour of Qatar
- 2014
National Championships
4th Road race
4th Time trial
6th Road race, Commonwealth Games
- 2015
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de Romandie
4th Road race, National Championships
4th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
7th Overall Tour of Qatar
8th Paris–Roubaix
9th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 2016
4th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
5th Tour of Flanders
- 2017 (1)
1st Stage 2 Herald Sun Tour
3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
5th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
6th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 2018
1st Stage 3 (TTT) Critérium du Dauphiné
1st Stage 1b (TTT) Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
- 2019
6th Dwars door Vlaanderen
6th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road RaceGrand Tour general classification results timeline
Classics results timeline
Legend| — | Did not compete |
|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
|---|
| DSQ | Disqualified |
|---|
| IP | In progress |
|---|
| NH | Not held | |
|---|
Track
- 2007
1st Team pursuit, UEC European Junior Championships
1st Madison, National Championships (with Adam Blythe)
- 2008
UEC European Junior Championships
1st Madison (with Mark Christian)
2nd Team pursuit
1st Derny, National Championships
- 2009
2nd Madison, National Championships (with Geraint Thomas)
- 2010
1st Madison, National Championships (with Mark Christian)
- 2011
1st Madison, National Championships (with Peter Kennaugh)
- 2012
Revolution Series, Manchester
1st Australian pursuit
1st ScratchExternal links
Notes and References
- Web site: Team Sky . . . 5 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190105011120/http://www.cyclingnews.com/teams/2019/team-sky/ . 5 January 2019.
- Web site: Team Ineos . UCI.org . . 2 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200102035953/https://www.uci.org/road/teams/TeamDetail/13993/1001552/260 . 2 January 2020.
- Web site: Ineos Grenadiers . UCI.org . . 2 January 2021 . https://archive.today/20210102023102/https://www.uci.org/road/teams/TeamDetail/15241/1001552/279 . 2 January 2021.
- Web site: Luke Rowe Bio . British Cycling . 10 September 2008.
- Web site: Cycling: Young guns shine in Poland . Andy Howell . Wales Online . 16 September 2008 . 22 December 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081006202724/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/cycling/2008/09/16/cycling-young-guns-shine-in-poland-91466-21828582/ . 6 October 2008 . live.
- News: Welshman Luke Rowe makes Team Sky switch. Gareth Rhys . Owen . . . 5 September 2011 . 6 January 2012 .
- Web site: Team Sky signs Rowe . Cycling News . Future Publishing Limited . 5 September 2011 . 6 September 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111227023110/http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-sky-signs-rowe . 27 December 2011 . live.
- Web site: Vuelta a Espana: Luke Rowe sole Brit in Team Sky squad . 20 August 2013 . 3 February 2017 . BBC.
- Web site: Commonwealth Games 2014: Olympic champion Geraint Thomas and world sprint star Becky James head up Welsh cycling team for Glasgow . Wales Online . 9 July 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140808041017/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/other-sport/cycling/commonwealth-games-2014-olympic-champion-7234116 . 8 August 2014.
- Web site: Cardiff cyclist Luke Rowe claims seventh place final finish on Tour of Qatar for Team Sky . Gareth . Griffiths . 13 February 2015 . 3 February 2017.
- Web site: Luke Rowe: 8th in Roubaix a sign of things to come . 12 April 2015 . 3 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305000019/http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/luke-rowe-eighth-in-roubaix-a-sign-of-things-to-come-166236 . 5 March 2016 . live.
- Web site: Tour de France: Luke Rowe among Froome’s chaperones in Team Sky line-up . William . Fotheringham . 29 June 2015 . 3 February 2017 . The Guardian . https://web.archive.org/web/20170204092626/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jun/29/luke-rowe-chris-froome-team-sky-tour-de-france-line-up . 4 February 2017 . live.
- Web site: 2015 Tour de France start list . 2 July 2015 . Velo News . https://web.archive.org/web/20150629194818/http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/06/news/preliminary-start-list-2015-tour-de-france_375043 . 29 June 2015 . live.
- Web site: Tour de France 2015: Luke Rowe ecstatic at Tour selection . 29 June 2015 . . 10 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150702080115/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/wales/33312561 . 2 July 2015 . live.
- Web site: Luke Rowe: Team Sky rider breaks leg on brother's stag party . BBC Sport . 11 August 2017 . 8 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170811105553/http://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/40870421 . 11 August 2017 . live.
- Web site: Team Sky's Luke Rowe 'could miss a year' after rafting leg break . BBC Sport . 11 August 2017 . 9 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170811110443/http://www.bbc.com/sport/wales/40874578 . 11 August 2017 . live.
- Web site: Rowe will return to racing with Team Sky at Abu Dhabi Tour . 11 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180212093019/http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rowe-will-return-to-racing-with-team-sky-at-abu-dhabi-tour/ . 12 February 2018 . live.
- News: Luke Rowe: Welsh cyclist signs Team Ineos contract extension . . . 20 February 2020 . 6 July 2020.
