Julien Absalon

Julien Arnaud Absalon (born 16 August 1980) is a French former cross-country mountain biker, who competed as a professional from 2001 to 2018. He is considered to be one of the most successful cross-country cyclists of all time. Throughout his career, Absalon gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, five World Championships (2004–2007, 2014), seven UCI World Cup overall titles (2003, 2006–2009, 2014, 2016) and 33 World Cup rounds, which was an all-time record before being broken by Nino Schurter in 2023. He also won all fourteen French cross-country championships between 2003 and 2016, and five European Championships (2006, 2013–2016).

Career highlights
Source: 2003: Absalon won his first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

2004: Gold at World Champions and the Athens Olympic Games.

2005: Absalon again won the World Championships.

2006: Winner at the World Championships, European Championships, French Championships and the overall World Cup.

2007: World Champion and World Cup Champion

2008: Won 2nd Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, World Cup Champion

2009: Number 1 World Ranking for all but 5 days of the year. Winner of UCI MTB World Cup for the 5th time, silver at the World Championships

2010: 2nd Overall at World Championships

2011: 3rd at the World Championships and World Cup

2012: At the 2012 Summer Olympics cross-country race, he suffered a tyre puncture in the opening lap. After changing tyre and noticing that he was trailing the leader by 55 seconds, he decided to abandon the race, seeing that his chances of winning a medal had disappeared.

2013: Won European Championships

2014: Wins 5th World Championship title, French and European Championships. His season was cut short when, that November, he suffered a broken collarbone during a cyclocross race.

2015: Absalon wins the European Championships, French Championships, and finished second overall in the World Championships. Completed the season ranked world number 1.

2016: Finishes the Rio Olympic Games in 8th place.

Major results

 * 1998
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Junior Championships
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Cross-country, UEC European Junior Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Junior Championships


 * 1999
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg Cross-country, UEC European Under-23 Championships
 * 2nd Cross-country, National Under-23 Championships
 * 5th Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships


 * 2000
 * 2nd Silver medal uci.svg Team relay, UCI World Championships
 * 4th Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships


 * 2001
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships
 * UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Durango
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Cross-country, UEC European Under-23 Championships
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Team relay, UEC European Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Under-23 Championships


 * 2002
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Cross-country, UEC European Under-23 Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Under-23 Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal uci.svg Team relay, UCI World Championships


 * 2003
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 3rd Kaprun
 * 3rd Sankt Wendel
 * 3rd Fort William
 * 3rd Grouse Mountain
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships


 * 2004
 * 1st Gold medal olympic.svg Cross-country, Olympic Games
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Schladming
 * 3rd Houffalize
 * 3rd Madrid
 * 5th Cross-country, UEC European Championships


 * 2005
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships
 * 3rd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Spa-Francorchamps
 * 1st Madrid
 * 3rd Willingen


 * 2006
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Spa-Francorchamps
 * 1st Fort William
 * 1st Madrid
 * 2nd Curaçao
 * 3rd Mont-Sainte-Anne


 * 2007
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Saint-Félicien
 * 1st Offenburg
 * 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 1st Champéry
 * 2nd Houffalize
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships


 * 2008
 * 1st Gold medal olympic.svg Cross-country, Olympic Games
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Madrid
 * 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 1st Houffalize
 * 1st Offenburg
 * 1st Bromont


 * 2009
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Madrid
 * 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 1st Houffalize
 * 1st Offenburg
 * 2nd Champéry
 * 2nd Pietermaritzburg
 * 2nd Silver medal uci.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships


 * 2010
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 2nd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Offenburg
 * 2nd Val di Sole
 * 2nd Dalby Forest
 * 5th Cross-country, UCI World Championships


 * 2011
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships
 * 3rd Bronze medal uci.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 3rd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Offenburg
 * 2nd Pietermaritzburg
 * 2nd Dalby Forest
 * 3rd Nové Město


 * 2012
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Houffalize
 * 1st La Bresse
 * 4th Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 4th Cross-country, UEC European Championships


 * 2013
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 3rd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 2nd Nové Město
 * 2nd Val di Sole


 * 2014
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Pietermaritzburg
 * 1st Cairns
 * 1st Albstadt
 * 2nd Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 2nd Méribel
 * 2nd Windham


 * 2015
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal uci.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 2nd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st Albstadt
 * 2nd Val di Sole
 * 2nd Windham
 * 2nd Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 3rd Nové Město


 * 2016
 * 1st European champion jersey 2016.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Overall UCI XCO World Cup
 * 1st La Bresse
 * 1st Vallnord
 * 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
 * 2nd Albstadt
 * 2nd Lenzerheide
 * 3rd Cairns
 * 3rd Bronze medal uci.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships


 * 2017
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg Cross-country, UEC European Championships
 * UCI XCO World Cup
 * 3rd Nové Město
 * 3rd Vallnord


 * 2018
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Cross-country, National E-MTB Championships


 * 2019
 * 2nd Cross-country, National E-MTB Championships
 * 3rd Bronze medal uci.svg Cross-country, UCI World E-MTB Championships