# Matti Breschel

Matti Breschel (born 31 August 1984) is a Danish retired professional road racing cyclist, who competed between 2005 and 2019 for the Rabobank, Tinkoff–Saxo, Astana and EF Education First teams.

## Career
### Junior career

Born in Ballerup, Breschel got his breakthrough with small Danish Team PH, finishing 6th at the U/23 Cycling World Championship in Verona in 2004 where he helped fellow Dane Mads Christensen finish 3rd. He also won the bronze medal at the Danish National Road Racing Championship during the summer of 2004.

### Team CSC (2005–2010)
#### 2005

He turned professional for the 2005 season in Denmark based Team CSC, where he signed a two-year contract. At the press conference, regarding his choice to join Team CSC in October 2004, he stated that he simply wished to adjust to the rigors of professional cycling, saying "I hope to get in the team, but in the beginning I just want to learn the game and to learn the races. Somewhere I know that I'm in for a beating." Under tutelage of seasoned veteran Lars Michaelsen, Breschel would start the season in the Tour of Qatar, where the two riders finished side by side, Breschel conceding the final victory to Michaelsen. They would ride a number of classics and smaller races together, and Breschel finished in a number of secondary placings, just missing the victory podiums.

#### 2006

For the start of the 2006 season, he once again showed himself in Tour of Qatar, finishing as the best young rider of the race for the second year in a row. He showed his good form in March with a third-place finish in Le Samyn, being beaten only by Philippe Gilbert in the bunch sprint of the peloton, and a few days later he sprinted his way to second place at stage 2 of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen where he was second only to world class sprinter Robbie McEwen. For the third, and last, stage of the race, Breschel would once more sprint against McEwen, with the winner taking the overall victory of the race, this time with the effect that both riders crashed. Breschel broke his vertebrae in two places and McEwen was de-classed in the race.

#### 2007

He came back with thunder and lightning in 2007 and came in an impressive 14th at the Paris–Roubaix, which his team-mate Stuart O'Grady won. After recovering he won his first victory as a professional in stage 2 of Danmark Rundt in August 2007. This was the first Danish stage win in five years of this national tour.

#### 2008

In 2008 his best season came and he got his first big international breakthrough when he on 8 June 2008, won the Philadelphia International Championship also known as the Commerce Bank International Championship in Philadelphia, PA where he outsprinted all contenders in a little bunch sprint after a long and hard race. A couple of weeks later he went on to take another impressive victory when he won the 2nd stage of Ster Elektrotoer, a stage finishing on the feared Cauberg and also won the overall points jersey. He maintained his good form through the season and also came in 2nd in the Danish Road Racing Championship, only beaten by his teammate Nicki Sørensen. In August he won two stages at Tour of Denmark and also led the overall classification until the final time trial securing him a total fifth place.
After all a very impressive season for the young gun the biggest scalp came on 21 September where he won the last stage of the Vuelta a España in Madrid in a very convincing way only a few days after he came in second in the 17th stage of the Vuelta a España. Only a week later Breschel rode very impressively at the world cycling championships finishing 3rd and getting a bronze medal.

#### 2009

Breschel had his best cobbled classics campaign ever in 2009. He managed to finish 6th at the Tour of Flanders and 9th at the Paris-Roubaix. In June he became the Danish National Road Race Champion, and he also won stages in the Tour de Suisse, Volta a Catalunya, Tour de Luxembourg and Post Danmark Rundt. He managed to finish 2nd at the Vattenfall Cyclassics.

#### 2010

During the 2010 season Breschel rode well in the Cobbled Classics but suffered from bad luck. Breschel won Dwars door Vlaanderen and put in strong performances in Gent–Wevelgem and Ronde Vlaanderen, but suffered mechanical defects in both races.

### Rabobank (2011–2012)

He signed for Rabobank for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In the 2012 Paris–Roubaix he was troubled by a knee injury. However a week before that, he had finished 9th at the Tour of Flanders. He was also on the podium at the Gent-Wevelgem.
Breschel left Rabobank at the end of the 2012 season, and joined the Danish team Saxo–Tinkoff on a two-year contract from the 2013 season onwards.

### Saxo-Tinkoff (2013–2015)

In his return to the former Team CSC squad, Breschel managed to pick up four stage wins at the Danmark Rundt – two each in 2013 and 2015. He also won 2 stages and the overall at the Tour de Luxembourg.

### Cannondale (2016)

Breschel signed for Cannondale for the 2016 season. He rode the Tour de France but abandoned the race on stage 14 after crashing. His best results in the season were, 5th at the GP du canton d'Argovie and 6th at Heistse Pijl.

### Astana (2017)

Breschel did not have the best year at Astana, and his best result was 12th at Dwaars door Vlaanderen, a race he had previously won in 2010.

### EF Education First–Drapac (2018–2019)

Breschel returned to the EF Education First–Drapac p/b Cannondale team after a year in Astana colors. He finished 9th on a wet stage 5 in the Paris-Nice. At the Milan-San Remo, Breschel sprinted home in 12th position.
He announced his retirement on 18 August 2019, effective from the end of the season, due to psoriatic arthritis.

## Major results
### 2001

    National Junior Road Championships
       1st Road race
       3rd Time trial

### 2003

    6th Fyen Rundt

### 2004

    1st Giro del Canavese
    1st Stage 3 Circuit des Ardennes
    1st Stage 2 Ringerike GP
    3rd Road race, National Road Championships
    6th Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
    6th Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
    10th Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux

### 2005

    2nd Overall Tour of Qatar
       1st Young rider classification
    3rd Road race, National Road Championships
    4th GP Herning
    4th Paris–Bourges
    4th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
    5th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge

### 2006

    3rd Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
       1st Young rider classification
    3rd Le Samyn
    6th Overall Tour of Qatar
       1st Young rider classification
    7th Reading Classic

### 2007

    Tour of Ireland
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 2
    3rd Overall Danmark Rundt
       1st Stage 2
    3rd GP Herning
    4th Overall Ster Elektrotoer
    7th Paris–Bourges
    9th Overall Sachsen Tour

### 2008

    1st Philadelphia International Championship
    1st Stage 21 Vuelta a España
    2nd Road race, National Road Championships
    3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
    5th Overall Danmark Rundt
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2 & 3
    5th Overall Ster Elektrotoer
       1st Stage 2
    6th Trofeo Laigueglia
    7th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
    8th Paris–Bourges

### 2009

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Stage 4 Tour de Suisse
    1st Stage 2 Volta a Catalunya
    2nd Vattenfall Cyclassics
    3rd Overall Tour of Ireland
       1st Young rider classification
    4th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 4
    5th Overall Danmark Rundt
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 1
    6th Tour of Flanders
    7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
    10th Paris–Roubaix

### 2010

    1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
    2nd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
    2nd Gran Piemonte
    3rd Paris–Bourges
    5th Overall Danmark Rundt
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 3
    8th Gent–Wevelgem

### 2012

    1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Burgos
    3rd Gent–Wevelgem
    7th Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
    9th Tour of Flanders

### 2013

    3rd Overall Danmark Rundt
       1st Stages 2 & 3
    4th Road race, National Road Championships
    8th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
    9th Vattenfall Cyclassics

### 2014

    1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2 & 3
    4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
    5th Overall Tour de l'Eurométropole
    9th Paris–Bourges

### 2015

    6th E3 Harelbeke
    7th Vattenfall Cyclassics
    8th Overall Danmark Rundt
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 3 & 4
    10th Overall Tour de Wallonie

### 2016

    5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
    6th Heistse Pijl

### 2018

    3rd Japan Cup

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Giro d'Italia | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | DNF |
| Tour de France | — | — | — | 142 | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — |
| Vuelta a España | — | 48 | 68 | — | DNF | 159 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |

### Classics & Monuments results timeline

| Monument | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Milan–San Remo | 119 | — | 60 | 39 | 134 | 11 | — | 31 | 73 | — | 12 | — | 23 | 12 | — |
| Tour of Flanders | DNF | — | DNF | 57 | 6 | 15 | — | 9 | 25 | DNF | 73 | DNF | 32 | 98 | 80 |
| Paris–Roubaix | 58 | — | 14 | 20 | 9 | DNF | — | — | 15 | — | 97 | — | 99 | 35 | 60 |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career | Did not contest during career |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | 49 | — | — | — | — | DNF | — |
| Classic | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | — | 27 | — | 134 | 36 | 76 | — | 30 | — | — | — | — | 19 | 89 | 104 |
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | DNF | DNF | — | 109 | 17 | DNF | — | 123 | NH | — | — | — | 88 | 40 | DNF |
| Strade Bianche | DNE | DNE | — | 25 | 20 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | 43 | — | 61 | 18 | DNF | 1 | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | 12 | — | — |
| E3 Harelbeke | DNF | — | 77 | 7 | 33 | DNF | — | 11 | 52 | — | 6 | — | DNF | — | — |
| Gent–Wevelgem | 17 | — | 85 | 20 | 15 | 8 | — | 3 | 13 | 72 | DNF | DNF | DNF | — | — |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | DNF | 86 | — | — | — | — | DNF | — |
| Vattenfall Cyclassics | DNF | DNF | 15 | — | 2 | DNF | — | — | 9 | 19 | 7 | — | 31 | — | DNF |
| Paris–Tours | 17 | — | 107 | 17 | — | 25 | — | DNF | — | 14 | DNF | — | — | 88 | — |

### Major championships timeline

| Event | Event | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Olympic Games | Road race | — | — | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | — | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 42 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | — | Not Held | Not Held |
| World Championships | Road race | — | — | — | — | DNF | 3 | 7 | 2 | — | DNF | DNF | 4 | 33 | DNF | — | DNF |
| National Championships | Road race | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | — | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | — | 4 | 7 | — | 14 | 44 | DNF |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |
| NH | Not held |

## Footnotes

* 1 2 "Breschel confirmed at Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
* ↑ "Breschel returns to Slipstream Sports for 2018". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
* ↑ "EF Education First Pro Cycling". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
* ↑ Matti Breschel signs for CSC by CyclingNews.com, 21 October 2004
* ↑ "Matti i mester- lære", Ekstra Bladet, 10 December 2004
* ↑ Injured Breschel blames McEwen by CyclingNews.com, 6 March 2006
* ↑ "Breschel joins Cannondale-Garmin in 2016". 16 September 2015.
* ↑ "Matti Breschel announces his retirement". 12 August 2019.
* ↑ "Breschel announces retirement due to struggle with psoriatic arthritis". 12 August 2019.