Stefan Nielsen (speedway rider)

Stefan Leeder Nielsen (born 31 October 1994) is a British speedway rider.

Career
Nielsen has a British mother and Danish father, and was born in Esbjerg, Denmark. He first rode speedway at the age of four and a half in Denmark and went on to ride for Grindsted in the 80cc class. In 2010, he rode for Outrup in the Danish second division.

He began his career in British speedway in 2011 with the Scunthorpe/Sheffield National League team, after attending a training school run by David Howe at Scunthorpe, winning the league championship with them that season. In 2012 he signed for Mildenhall Fen Tigers, and was part of the team that won the National League championship, National League Trophy, Knockout Cup, and Four-team Championship. Also that year he won the British Under-19 Championship, a title that he retained in 2013, only the second rider to achieve that feat. He also rode in fourteen matches for Premier League Ipswich Witches. In 2013 he stayed with the Fen Tigers and rode in the Premier League with Somerset Rebels, averaging close to five points but losing his place towards the end of the season. In 2014 he signed for Coventry Storm in the National League, whilst in the draft for Elite League reserves for 2014, Nielsen was picked by Belle Vue Aces.

In 2015 he finished 12th in the 2015 Speedway Under-21 World Championship. In 2016, he rode for the Plymouth Devils and then spent three seasons at the Scunthorpe Scorpions before signing for the Poole Pirates for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

In 2022, he rode for the Sheffield Tigers in the SGB Premiership 2022 and for the Birmingham Brummies in the SGB Championship 2022. In 2023, he re-signed for Birmingham for the SGB Championship 2023, in doing so he also became a club asset after they purchased his contract from Swindon.