Linda Villumsen

Linda Villumsen
Villumsen wearing the Danish national team's jersey at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships (left) and riding for New Zealand in the 2012 Olympics time trial (right)
Personal information
Full nameLinda Melanie Villumsen Serup
Born (1985-04-09) 9 April 1985 (age 39)
Herning, Denmark
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight59 kg (130 lb)
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider type
Amateur team
2017F A S T Cycling Team[2]
Professional teams
2005–2006Buitenpoort – Flexpoint Team
2007–2010Team T-Mobile Women
2011AA Drink–leontien.nl
2012GreenEDGE–AIS
2013–2014Wiggle–Honda
2015–2016UnitedHealthcare
2017–2018Team VéloCONCEPT[3][4]
Major wins
One Day races
· National Time Trial championships (2006, 2008, 2009, 2013)
· National Road Race championships (2008–2009, 2015)
· Commonwealth Games Time Trial championships (2014)
· World Time Trial Championships (2015)
Stage races
· Route de France Féminine (2006, 2013)
· Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen (2009)
· Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol (2012)
· Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche (2014)
Medal record
Women's road cycling
World Championships
Representing  Denmark
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Mendrisio Time trial
Representing GreenEDGE–AIS
Silver medal – second place 2012 Valkenburg Team time trial
Representing  New Zealand
Gold medal – first place 2015 Richmond Time trial
Silver medal – second place 2011 Copenhagen Time trial
Silver medal – second place 2013 Tuscany Time trial
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Melbourne Time trial
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Valkenburg Time trial
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow Time trial
Silver medal – second place 2010 Delhi Time trial
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast Time trial
Villumsen (left) finished second in time trial at the 2013 World Championships. (Ellen van Dijk (center), Carmen Small (right))

Linda Melanie Villumsen Serup (born 9 April 1985) is a Danish-born road racing cyclist,[5] who last rode for UCI Women's Team Team Virtu Cycling. Villumsen became a New Zealand citizen in 2009 and has ridden under a Kiwi licence from 2010.[6]

Career

[edit]

Born in Herning, Villumsen won the European under 23 time trial championship in 2006[7] and 2007.

She was Danish national champion in both road racing and time trialing in 2006, 2008 and 2009.[8] In 2006, Cycling World named her their Cyclist of the Year.[9]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she finished 5th in the women's road race and 13th in the time trial.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London she finished 18th in the road race and fourth in the time trial, missing out on a medal by less than two seconds.[10]

Villumsen won the Route de France Féminine in 2006 and 2013 and was one of only two riders to win the race twice.[11]

From 2008 to 2015 she placed 10th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 9th and 1st in world championships time trials.

From 2012 to 2014 she placed 7th, 6th and 8th in world championships road races.

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games she won the gold medal in the road time trial and placed 5th in the road race.[12][13]

In September 2014 the UnitedHealthcare team announced that they had signed Villumsen for the 2015 season after two seasons with Wiggle–Honda.[1]

In September 2015 Villumsen won the individual time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia.[14] Afterwards, her trade team, UnitedHealthcare, almost dropped her for riding her team issue New Zealand frame instead of her normal Wilier Cento Time Trial bike.[15] The NZ team's bike, with its altered geometry, meant she could get much lower.

Villumsen is the only New Zealand senior cyclist to win an individual medal at the UCI Road World Championships.

Major results

[edit]
2005
1st Alblasserdam
Danish National Road Championships
2nd Road race
3rd Time trial
2nd Overall Damesronde van Drenthe
2nd New Zealand World Cup
2006
1st Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
Danish National Road Championships
1st Time trial
1st Road race
1st Overall La Route de France
1st Omloop der Kempen
1st Mountains classification Damesronde van Drenthe
2nd Overall Ster Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st Stage 1 (ITT)
2nd L'Heure d'Or Féminine
3rd Individual pursuit, Danish National Track Championships
9th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
1st Young rider classification
2007
1st Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
1st Stage 6 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
3rd Overall Holland Ladies Tour
5th Overall Emakumeen Bira
10th Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
2008
Danish National Road Championships
1st Time trial
1st Road race
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile – Memorial Michela Fanini
2nd Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT
5th Road race, Olympic Games
8th Overall Iurreta-Emakumeen Bira
9th Overall Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
10th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
2009
Danish National Road Championships
1st Time trial
1st Road race
1st Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
1st Stage 3
1st Trofeo Costa Etrusca – GP Comuni Santa Luce – Castellina Marittima
2nd Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT
3rd Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
3rd Overall Ster Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st Stage 1 (ITT)
7th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
8th Overall Gracia–Orlová
8th Tour de Berne
10th Overall Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Prologue
2010
2nd Time trial, Commonwealth Games
New Zealand National Road Championships
2nd Road race
3rd Time trial
2nd Chrono Gatineau
2nd Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT
3rd Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
5th Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau
6th Overall Women's Tour of New Zealand
2011
2nd Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
2nd Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT
4th Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
9th GP Ciudad de Valladolid
2012
1st Overall Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Stage 3 (ITT) Emakumeen Euskal Bira
UCI Road World Championships
2nd Team time trial
3rd Time trial
7th Road race
2nd Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT
3rd La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
3rd GP Stad Roeselare
4th Time trial, Olympic Games
5th Overall Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs
7th Overall Women's Tour of New Zealand
1st Stage 5
8th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
10th Open de Suède Vårgårda
2013
1st Time trial, New Zealand National Road Championships
1st Overall La Route de France
1st Stage 7
UCI Road World Championships
2nd Time trial[16]
6th Road race
5th Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
1st Active rider classification
8th Overall Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche
1st Mountains classification
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue
2014
Commonwealth Games
1st Time trial
5th Road race
1st Overall Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche
1st Stage 2 (ITT)
New Zealand National Road Championships
2nd Time trial
2nd Road race
8th La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
UCI Road World Championships
8th Road race
9th Time trial
2015
1st Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
New Zealand National Road Championships
1st Road race
2nd Time trial
5th Overall Tour of the Gila
7th Overall Joe Martin Stage Race
2016
1st Le Race
2nd Overall Joe Martin Stage Race
1st Prologue
5th Overall Tour of the Gila
6th Time trial, Olympic Games
2017
5th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
6th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
2018
2nd Time trial, Commonwealth Games
10th Overall Women's Herald Sun Tour

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Villumsen signs with Unitedhealthcare". cyclingnews.com. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  2. ^ Wright, Ed (9 February 2017). "Vllumsen headlines F A S T Cycling Team". Roadcycling.co.nz.
  3. ^ "Villumsen signs with Team VeloConcept". Cyclingnews.com. 8 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Team VIRTU Cycling Women and Linda Villumsen part ways". Team Virtu Cycling. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Athlete Biography – SERUP Linda Melanie Villumsen". Beijing Olympics official website. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008.
  6. ^ "Villumsen cleared to ride for New Zealand". cyclingnews.com. 30 December 2009.
  7. ^ "National Championships Denmark WE - ITT 2006 Time trial results". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Stuff". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Glasgow 2014 – Linda Villumsen Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  10. ^ Cleaver, Dylan (2 August 2012). "Olympics: Villumsen just seconds from bronze". The New Zealand Herald.
  11. ^ "Linda Melanie Serup Villumsen". www.cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Glasgow 2014 – Women's Individual Time Trial". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Glasgow 2014 – Women's Road Race". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Linda Villumsen claims time trial world title". The New Zealand Herald. Associated Press. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  15. ^ "Villumsen at the heart of a storm after riding non-trade team bike to Worlds success | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Kiwi cyclist wins medal at world champs". TVNZ. 25 September 2013.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by European Under-23 Time Trial
Champion

2006–2007
Succeeded by
Preceded by UCI World Time Trial
Champion

2015
Succeeded by
 Amber Neben (USA)