Karsten Kroon

Karsten Kroon (born 29 January 1976) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for, a UCI ProTeam. He retired at the end of the 2014 season.

Career
Born in Dalen, Kroon showed his talent as an amateur by winning the professional Ronde van Drenthe in 1996. He joined the youth squad in 1997 and won a number of amateur races in two years. In 1999, he moved to the senior squad. His few wins included stage 8, on Bastille Day, of the 2002 Tour de France. Kroon and his teammate, Erik Dekker, finished in a seven-man group, and Kroon won a stage in his first Tour de France with the help of the more experienced Dekker. Kroon led the mountains classification in each of the three Grand Tours, though his lead did not last to the end.

On 10 August 2005 he said that, until 2007, he was to ride for Saxo Bank. He wanted more freedom. "I've never said that I want to be leader," he told Cyclingnews.com, "I only want to get chances". In March and April 2006, he was joint team captain in ProTour races. He finished in the top ten of Tirreno–Adriatico and the Tour of Flanders. He helped Fränk Schleck win the Amstel Gold Race by disrupting the chase when Schleck attacked; Kroon finished fourth. Kroon finally finished on the podium, in La Flèche Wallonne, third in front of Schleck. He also came second in the 2009 Amstel Gold Race, just behind Serguei Ivanov.

In 2010, Kroon joined, but returned to for the 2012 season.

Doping
On 24 April 2018, it was reported that Kroon had confessed to doping for "a short period during my career". He added: "I was a professional cyclist in a very difficult time and I have a lot of respect for my colleagues who resisted the temptation to use doping."

Major results

 * 1996
 * 1st Ronde van Drenthe


 * 1997
 * 1st Vlaamse Pijl
 * 1st Stage 2 Circuit Franco-Belge


 * 1998
 * 1st Overall Ster der Beloften
 * 1st Stage 2
 * Vuelta a Navarra
 * 1st Stages 2 & 3
 * 1st Stage 6 Circuit des Mines
 * 1st Stage 2 Vuelta a León


 * 1999
 * 10th Clásica de Almería


 * 2000
 * 4th DAB Classic
 * 7th Dwars door Gendringen
 * Held Jersey green.svg Mountain jersey for 13 days Giro d'Italia


 * 2001
 * 1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
 * 3rd Sparkassen Giro Bochum
 * 9th Brabantse Pijl
 * Held Jersey red.svg King of the Mountains jersey, Vuelta a España


 * 2002
 * 1st Stage 8 Tour de France


 * 2003
 * 1st Stage 5 Tour du Poitou-Charentes


 * 2004
 * 1st Rund um den Henninger Turm


 * 2005
 * 5th Brabantse Pijl
 * 9th Omloop Het Volk
 * Held Jersey polkadot.svg King of the Mountains Jersey for Stage 6, Tour de France


 * 2006
 * 3-Länder-Tour
 * 1st Stages 2 & 5
 * 3rd La Flèche Wallonne
 * 4th Amstel Gold Race
 * 8th Tour of Flanders


 * 2007
 * 4th Tour of Flanders


 * 2008
 * 1st Stage 2 Vuelta a Castilla y León
 * 1st Stage 5 Sachsen-Tour
 * 1st Rund um den Henninger Turm
 * 5th Giro di Lombardia
 * 9th Amstel Gold Race


 * 2009
 * 2nd Amstel Gold Race
 * 2nd Rund um den Henninger Turm
 * 4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
 * 5th Brabantse Pijl


 * 2010
 * 1st RaboRonde Heerlen
 * 9th Amstel Gold Race


 * 2012
 * 5th Overall Tour de l'Eurometropole