Lars Bak

Lars Ytting Bak (born 16 January 1980) is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the Fakta, BankGiroLoterij, Team Saxo Bank, HTC–Highroad, Lotto–Soudal and Team Dimension Data squads.[3] Bak now works as a directeur sportif for UCI WorldTeam Team Qhubeka Assos.[4]

This article is about the Danish cyclist. For the Danish computer programmer, see Lars Bak (computer programmer).

Lars Bak
Bak at the 2012 Giro d'Italia.
Personal information
Full nameLars Ytting Bak
Born (1980-01-16) 16 January 1980
Silkeborg, Denmark
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight80 kg (176 lb; 12 st 8 lb)
Team information
Current teamTeam Qhubeka Assos
DisciplineRoad
Role
Rider typeAll-rounder
Amateur teams
1996–1999Silkeborg CR
2000–2001Hammel CK
2001CCI Differdange
2001UC Trevigiani-Mapei
Professional teams
2002–2003Team Fakta
2004BankGiroLoterij
2005–2009Team CSC
2010–2011Team HTC–Columbia
2012–2018Lotto–Belisol[1]
2019Team Dimension Data[2]
Managerial team
2020–NTT Pro Cycling
Major wins
Grand Tours
Giro d'Italia
1 individual stage (2012)
1 TTT stage (2011)
Vuelta a España
1 TTT stage (2010)

Single-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (2005)
National Time Trial Championships (2007, 2008, 2009)
Grand Prix de Fourmies (2012)

Background

Born in Silkeborg, Bak became a professional in 2002 for Team Fakta where he rode with fellow Dane Allan Johansen. In 2004 they both switched to BankGiroLoterij where Lars Bak would gain his first professional win, but as the BankGiroLoterij team stopped after the 2004 season, both Bak and Johansen went to Team CSC in 2005.

Here, Bak won the Danish Road Racing Championship, and in the later half of the season he showed his strength and talent as a good upcoming rider, as he won the respected ten stage Under 25 race, the Tour de l'Avenir. He won the leader's jersey by sprinting to the win in a group of four riders on the first stage, a position he defended through the following nine stages bar one, including a time trial and a number of hilly stages.

In 2011 he finally made his Tour de France debut where he worked hard for Mark Cavendish's sprint train and finished off by taking part in a breakaway on the last stage. Bak joined Lotto–Belisol for the 2012 season.[1]

In 2012, he won stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia.

Bak retired at the end of the 2019 season after 18 years as a professional.[3]

Major results
2003
6th Veenendaal–Veenendaal Classic
6th Druivenkoers Overijse
7th Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
2004
5th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
9th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 1
9th Overall Danmark Rundt
2005
National Road Championships
1st Road race
3rd Time trial
1st Overall Tour de l'Avenir
1st Stage 1
1st Paris–Bourges
6th CSC Classic
2006
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España
1st Eindhoven Team Time Trial
4th Overall Bayern–Rundfahrt
8th Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
2007
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
1st Stage 5 Tour de Wallonie
3rd Overall Tour Down Under
6th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
2008
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Tour de Pologne
1st Stage 1 (TTT)
2nd Overall Herald Sun Tour
7th Overall Bayern–Rundfahrt
9th Overall Sachsen Tour
9th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
2009
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
6th Overall Tour de Romandie
7th Overall Eneco Tour
1st Stage 5
8th Overall Danmark Rundt
9th Overall Tour of Missouri
2010
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
8th Overall Danmark Rundt
2011
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Giro d'Italia
3rd GP Herning
5th Paris–Roubaix
8th Overall Ster ZLM Toer
2012
1st Grand Prix de Fourmies
1st Stage 12 Giro d'Italia
10th Overall Ster ZLM Toer
2013
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
2014
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
2015
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
6th Overall Three Days of De Panne
2018
10th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
2019
7th Paris–Tours

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Giro d'Italia DNF — — — — — 16 — 126 72 94 56 90 DNF 118 106 —
Tour de France — — — — — — — — 152 96 108 82 37 173 123 — 147
Vuelta a España — — — 21 — — — 154 — — — — — — — — —
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References
  1. "Bak looking forward to finally having his chance at Lotto-Ridley". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  2. "Dimension Data finalise 2019 roster". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  3. "Bak bows out with seventh place at Paris-Tours". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. "NTT Pro Cycling Team". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

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