# Oliver Naesen

Oliver Naesen (Dutch:; born 16 September 1990) is a Belgian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale. Considered a specialist of the one-day classics, he won the 2017 Belgian National Road Race Championships, as well as the Bretagne Classic in 2016 and 2018. He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Lawrence Naesen.

## Career
### 2014–2016

Naesen turned professional in August 2014 as a stagiaire with the Lotto–Belisol team, before joining Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise in 2015 and Swiss UCI WorldTeam IAM Cycling in 2016.
He made his Grand Tour debut at the 2016 Tour de France, in which he was awarded the combativity award on the fourth stage. He made a spectacular crash in the last corner of the stage 18 mountain time trial, but finished his maiden Tour in 83rd position overall.
Weeks after the Tour de France, he won the Bretagne Classic; his first victory in a UCI World Tour race. In September, he finished second in the general classification of the 2016 Eneco Tour after a strong performance in the final stage to Geraardsbergen. His results earned him a selection for the World Championship road race in Qatar, in which he finished 23rd.

### AG2R La Mondiale (2017–present)

Following the discontinuation of the IAM Cycling team, Naesen signed a two-year contract with French team AG2R La Mondiale. In the spring of 2017, he confirmed his status as a classics talent with top-10 finishes in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, E3 Harelbeke and Gent–Wevelgem. In the Tour of Flanders, he was in a three-man chase group behind Philippe Gilbert, when Peter Sagan, leading the group, crashed on Oude Kwaremont and brought down Naesen and Greg Van Avermaet. Naesen and Sagan broke their bike frames, preventing them from defending their podium positions, and Naesen ultimately finished 23rd. In Summer, he won the 2017 Belgian National Road Race Championships in Antwerp, before competing in his second Tour de France.
In 2018, he finished 11th at the Tour of Flanders and 12th in Paris–Roubaix. In August, he won the Bretagne Classic Ouest–France for the second time in three years.

## Major results
### 2013

    10th Grote Prijs Stad Geel

### 2014

    3rd Memorial Van Coningsloo
    4th Ronde van Limburg
    6th Binche–Chimay–Binche
    6th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23
    8th Gooikse Pijl
    9th Handzame Classic
    10th Druivenkoers Overijse
    10th Internationale Wielertrofee Jong Maar Moedig
    10th Flèche Ardennaise

### 2015 (1 pro win)

    1st Polynormande
    1st Gooikse Pijl
    2nd Schaal Sels
    3rd Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
    3rd Omloop van het Waasland
    5th Druivenkoers Overijse
    6th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
       1st Young rider classification
    7th Overall Tour of Belgium
    10th Le Samyn
    10th Tour de Vendée

### 2016 (1)

    1st Bretagne Classic
    1st GP Lucien Van Impe
    2nd Overall Eneco Tour
    2nd Tour de l'Eurométropole
    10th Binche–Chimay–Binche
    Combativity award Stage 4 Tour de France

### 2017 (1)

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    3rd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
    3rd E3 Harelbeke
    5th Overall BinckBank Tour
    6th Paris–Tours
    6th Dwars door Vlaanderen
    6th Tour de l'Eurométropole
    7th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
    8th Overall Tour of Belgium
    8th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
    10th London–Surrey Classic
    10th Binche–Chimay–Binche

### 2018 (1)

    1st Bretagne Classic
    3rd Eschborn–Frankfurt
    3rd Binche–Chimay–Binche
    3rd Tour de l'Eurométropole
    4th E3 Harelbeke
    4th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
    4th Paris–Tours
    6th Gent–Wevelgem
    9th Grand Prix d'Isbergues

### 2019 (1)

    2nd Overall BinckBank Tour
       1st Stage 7
    2nd Milan–San Remo
    2nd Binche–Chimay–Binche
    3rd Gent–Wevelgem
    3rd Paris–Tours
    7th Tour of Flanders
    8th E3 Binckbank Classic
    8th London–Surrey Classic
    10th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
    10th EuroEyes Cyclassics

### 2020

    7th Tour of Flanders
    7th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
    10th Overall Tour de Wallonie

### 2021

    4th E3 Saxo Bank Classic
    7th Tro-Bro Léon

### 2022

    2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
    3rd Famenne Ardenne Classic
    4th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
    7th Bretagne Classic
    8th Primus Classic

### 2023

    9th Famenne Ardenne Classic

### 2024

    4th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
    7th Tour of Flanders
    7th Binche–Chimay–Binche
    8th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Giro d'Italia | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Tour de France | 83 | 63 | 66 | 68 | 61 | 70 | DNF | 76 |
| Vuelta a España | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |

### Classics results timeline

| Monument | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Milan–San Remo | — | — | — | — | 62 | 2 | 14 | 21 | — | 74 | 106 |
| Tour of Flanders | — | 35 | 22 | 23 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 41 | 40 | 7 |
| Paris–Roubaix | — | 57 | 13 | 31 | 12 | 13 | NH | 52 | 54 | 66 | 24 |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Giro di Lombardia | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Classic | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | — | 31 | 13 | 7 | 27 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 19 | 4 |
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | — | 25 | 77 | 8 | 11 | 43 | 23 | 16 | 20 | 79 | 16 |
| E3 Harelbeke | — | — | — | 3 | 4 | 8 | NH | 4 | 21 | 47 | 25 |
| Gent–Wevelgem | — | 32 | DNF | 22 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 59 | 18 | 11 |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | 40 | DNF | 6 | DNF | 19 | NH | 19 | DNF | 84 | 63 |
| Amstel Gold Race | — | 92 | 35 | 13 | 93 | 28 | NH | — | — | — | 108 |
| Eschborn–Frankfurt | — | — | — | DNF | 3 | 16 | NH | — | — | — | DNF |
| Bretagne Classic | — | — | 1 | DNF | 1 | 17 | — | — | 7 | DNF | |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | — | — | 68 | 17 | 14 | 20 | Not held | Not held | — | — | |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | — | — | 15 | 16 | 4 | 36 | Not held | Not held | — | — | |
| Paris–Tours | 32 | 27 | 25 | 6 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 55 | 117 | |

### Major championships timeline

| Event | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| World Championships | — | 23 | 73 | — | 33 | DNF | — |
| National Championships | 10 | 30 | 1 | 43 | 22 | 48 | 9 |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |
| NH | Not held |