Bernhard Eisel

Bernhard Eisel (born 17 February 1981) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the, , , and  teams. Following his retirement, he worked as an analyst and presenter for Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network (GCN), before joining as a directeur sportif in 2022.

Career
Born in Voitsberg, Eisel won his first race when he was 11 years old, since then he has won many races. When he was 17, he moved to Italy to race for the team Rinascita Ormelle, based in Treviso. After that he moved to Gli Amici Piave, the team of Moreno Argentin. In 2001 he joined the team and became a professional cyclist, from 2003 on he joined.

In 2007, Eisel changed to. Eisel enjoyed a successful first season with his main victory coming on Stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve. Eisel established himself as the right-hand man of sprinter and teammate Mark Cavendish, protecting him throughout the flats and mountain stages and forming part of the HTC lead out train that saw Cavendish take many notable victories in the Tour de France and other races. Eisel also had opportunities to ride for himself, mainly in the classics. He won Paris–Bourges in 2008 and Gent–Wevelgem in 2010, and in 2011, Eisel recorded his best placing in a monument by finishing seventh in Paris–Roubaix. Eisel was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011.

Following the announcement that would fold at the end of 2011, Eisel joined Mark Cavendish in moving to. After Cavendish announced he would cut his three-year deal with the team short to move to, Eisel announced he would stay with until the end of the 2015 season.

On 28 September 2015, Sky announced that Eisel would be among the riders leaving the team at the end of the year, following four seasons with the team. The following day it was announced that he had joined Cavendish (and Mark Renshaw, their former teammate at HTC) in signing for – to be renamed as.

On 14 January 2020 he announced his retirement from professional racing. Shortly afterwards he took up a role as a presenter, reporter and commentator for Eurosport and Global Cycling Network (GCN). In November 2021 announced that Eisel would join them as a directeur sportif from the 2022 season.

Major results

 * 1999
 * 5th Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships


 * 2002
 * 1st Radclassic-Gleisdorf
 * 2nd Overall Paris–Corrèze
 * 4th Overall GP Erik Breukink


 * 2003 (2 pro wins)
 * 1st Stage 4 Tour du Limousin
 * 3rd Overall GP Erik Breukink
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 7th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge


 * 2004
 * 1st Stage 3 Criterium des Espoirs
 * 1st Bad Ischl
 * 5th Scheldeprijs
 * 7th Overall Tour de Picardie


 * 2005 (4)
 * Volta ao Algarve
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stages 1 & 4
 * 1st Stage 1 Tour de Suisse
 * 2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul
 * 1st Points classification
 * 1st Stage 4


 * 2006 (3)
 * 1st Stage 4 Tour of Qatar
 * 1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
 * 1st Grazer Altstadt Kriterium
 * 1st Mayrhofen Europa-Kriterium
 * 2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 2a
 * 2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul
 * 5th Paris–Roubaix
 * 7th Gent–Wevelgem


 * 2007 (3)
 * 1st Lancaster Classic
 * 1st Reading Classic
 * 1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
 * 1st Linz criterium
 * 3rd Philadelphia International Championship
 * 4th Overall Tour of Qatar
 * 8th Trofeo Palma


 * 2008 (2)
 * 1st Paris–Bourges
 * 1st Stage 5 Volta ao Algarve
 * 3rd Reading Classic
 * 4th Philadelphia International Championship
 * 6th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
 * 9th Lancaster Classic


 * 2009 (1)
 * 1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Welser Sparkassen Innenstadt-Kriterium
 * 2nd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
 * 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 9th Scheldeprijs


 * 2010 (1)
 * 1st Gent–Wevelgem
 * 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España
 * 7th Paris–Bourges
 * 8th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
 * 9th Paris–Tours


 * 2011
 * 7th Paris–Roubaix
 * 7th Gent–Wevelgem
 * 8th Overall Tour of Qatar


 * 2012
 * 3rd E3 Harelbeke


 * 2013
 * 5th Overall Tour of Qatar
 * 7th Gent–Wevelgem
 * 10th Milan–San Remo


 * 2014
 * 3rd Road race, National Road Championships


 * 2017
 * 1st Mountains classification, Arctic Race of Norway