Olaf Ludwig

Olaf Ludwig (born 13 April 1960 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former German racing cyclist. His career began at the SG Dynamo Gera / Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo. As an East German, he raced as an amateur until reunification of Germany allowed him to become professional with Panasonic team. As a sprinter, the highlight of his career was winning the points classification in the 1990 Tour de France. Other highlights include the Olympic road race in Seoul in 1988, a record 38 stage victories in the Peace Race, winning the Amstel Gold Race in 1992, and podium placings in the Paris–Roubaix. He also won the 1992 UCI Road World Cup. In 1992 he won the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France and won the third Tour stage of his career the following year.

His sprinting rivals included Mario Cipollini, Wilfried Nelissen and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov.

In 1993 he joined Team Telekom, later T-Mobile Team. On retirement in 1996 he took up public relations for the team. He subsequently became principal team manager, but his involvement with the team finished at the end of 2006.

Major results

 * 1978
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Team time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships


 * 1981
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt


 * 1982
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Peace Race


 * 1983
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de l'Avenir
 * 1st Overall DDR Rundfahrt


 * 1985
 * 1st Overall DDR Rundfahrt


 * 1986
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Peace Race


 * 1988
 * 1st Gold medal olympic.svg Road race, Olympic Games


 * 1990
 * Tour de France
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 8
 * Tour de Trump
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st, Stage 1, 2 & 9


 * 1991
 * 1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
 * 9th UCI Road World Rankings


 * 1992
 * 1st Jersey pink.svg Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
 * 1st Mens World Cup leaders jersey.png UCI Road World Cup
 * 1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
 * 1st Amstel Gold Race
 * 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
 * 1st Grand Prix de Fourmies
 * 1st Stage 21 Tour de France
 * 2nd Paris–Roubaix
 * 5th UCI Road World Rankings


 * 1994
 * 1st Rund um den Henninger Turm


 * 1995
 * 1st Veenendaal–Veenendaal


 * 1996
 * 1st Stage 2 Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 3rd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 3rd Overall Three Days of De Panne
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 3rd Omloop Het Volk
 * 5th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
 * 8th Rund um den Henninger Turm

Books
Olaf Ludwig: ''Höllenritt auf der Himmelsleiter. Etappen meines Lebens.'' Herausgegeben von Helmut Wengel. RhinoVerlag, Arnstadt & Weimar 1997, ISBN 3-932081-18-8 (german)