# Udo Bölts

Udo Bölts (born 10 August 1966) is a retired German racing cyclist, the brother of Hartmut Bölts. Bölts confessed publicly in 2007 to having used EPO and growth hormones in 1996 and 1997.

## Biography

Bölts was born in Heltersberg and began his professional career in 1989 with Stuttgart–Merckx–Gonsor, from which Team Telekom were formed in 1991.
From 1992 to 2003, Bölts took part in 12 consecutive Tours de France, arriving in Paris on every occasion, both of which feats are German records. These records have since been surpassed by Jens Voigt. His best placing in the hardest stage race in the world was in 1994, when he was ninth. In 1996 and 1997, he was an important helper of teammates and eventual winners of the Tour, Bjarne Riis and Jan Ullrich. During the 1997 Tour, he was noted for the words he shouted to Ullrich when the latter was about to crack: Quäl dich, du Sau! (force yourself, you sod!). After Bölts had taken part in the Ironman Hawaii event with little preparation, his team chief of many years, Walter Godefroot, said: "Bölts is strong, he never breaks down".
Some of his victories include three German road national titles (1990, 1995 and 1999), the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1996 or a stage win at the 1992 Giro d'Italia. He also is the only German rider to have won the Dauphiné Libéré, which he did in 1997, a year in which he was also fourth in the World Cycling Championships.
For his last season as a professional, Bölts moved to Gerolsteiner. After he retired in 2004, he became one of the team's directeurs sportif, and was responsible for race preparations, strategies and contacts with other teams and cyclists. During the Tour de France 2006, he was an assistant commentator for German TV channel ZDF.
In the wake of the 2007 Team T-Mobile scandal Bölts confessed publicly on 23 May, having used EPO and growth hormones in preparation for the Tour the France 1996, continuing with the practise in 1997. In consequence of this Bölts resigned as the sports director of Gerolsteiner on 24 May 2007.

## Major results
### 1987

    6th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell

### 1989

    3rd Overall Herald Sun Tour
       1st Stage 2

### 1990

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Overall Herald Sun Tour
    2nd Grand Prix de Cannes
    6th Grand Prix de Cholet – Pays de Loire
    10th Overall Tour Méditerranéen

### 1991

    3rd Overall Herald Sun Tour
    6th Overall Nissan Classic
    8th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
    10th Overall Tour de Suisse

### 1992

    1st Stage 19 Giro d'Italia
    1st Stage 3 Tour of the Basque Country
    4th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
    6th GP Ouest–France
    7th Giro di Lombardia
    9th Coppa Bernocchi

### 1993

    3rd Overall Herald Sun Tour
    3rd Omloop van de Westhoek
    6th Telekom Grand Prix (with Jens Heppner)
    9th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico

### 1994

    1st Rund um Köln
    1st Omloop van de Westhoek
    Herald Sun Tour
       1st Stages 8 & 9
    2nd Grand Prix de Wallonie
    6th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    7th Telekom Grand Prix (with Andreas Kappes)
    8th Giro di Lombardia
    9th Overall Tour de France
    9th Overall Tour of the Basque Country

### 1995

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    6th Telekom Grand Prix (with Jens Heppner)

### 1996

    1st Clásica de San Sebastián
    2nd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
       1st Stage 5
    3rd Road race, National Road Championships
    6th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
    7th Overall Tour de Suisse
       1st Stage 7
    7th Telekom Grand Prix (with Christian Henn)
    9th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
    9th Klasika Primavera
    10th Overall Regio-Tour

### 1997

    1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
       1st Mountains classification
    1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
    1st Stage 5 Euskal Bizikleta
    3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
    4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
    4th Breitling Grand Prix (with Christian Henn)
    7th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
    8th Rund um den Henninger-Turm

### 1998

    1st Grand Prix de Wallonie
    1st Breitling Grand Prix (with Christian Henn)
    2nd Klasika Primavera
    5th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
    7th Road race, National Road Championships
    8th Rund um den Henninger-Turm
    9th Clásica de San Sebastián
    10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
    10th Tre Valli Varesine

### 1999

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    6th La Flèche Wallonne
    6th Klasika Primavera
    9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
    10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
    10th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
    10th Breitling Grand Prix (with Christian Henn)

### 2000

    1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de Suisse
    2nd Klasika Primavera
    3rd Overall Deutschland Tour
       1st Stage 3
    6th Rund um Köln

### 2001

    7th Rund um den Henninger-Turm
    8th Overall Deutschland Tour
    9th Klasika Primavera

### 2003

    7th Overall Bayern-Rundfahrt

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | 31 | 33 | 18 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de France | — | — | 35 | 25 | 9 | 38 | 14 | 21 | 21 | 40 | 42 | 51 | 48 | 61 |
| / Vuelta a España | 53 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |