Phil Anderson Photo Gallery
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Major wins and high placings | Pro teams | Nicknames | Photos |
Australian cyclist Phil Anderson (born March 12, 1958) was the first non-European (though he was born in London) to lead the Tour de France.
After a successful stint with the French ACBB cycling club (sometimes called Peugeot's farm team), he turned pro for Peugeot in 1980.
In 1981 he was tenth in the Tour de France and the next year his remarkable talent became clear when he was fifth in the Tour and won the young rider classification and the second stage.
It was in that 1981 Tour de France that, after staying out of trouble for the first four stages, he was sitting in ninth place, two minutes behind leader Gerrie Knetemann.
The next day, the first stage in the Pyrenees, he finished with Bernard Hinault and Juan Fernandez and found himself the overall leader, 17 seconds ahead of Hinault. It couldn't last. The next day Hinault won the time trial in Pau and took the Yellow Jersey for good.
In 1985 he was again fifth in the Tour, but his real strength was in shorter stage races. That year he triumphed in the Tour Méditerranéen, Volta a Catalunya, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour of Switzerland, all very big-deal races. In 1985 he was also second in the Catalonian Week and the Tour of Belgium and won important single-day races GP E3 and Amstel Gold.
In the late 1980s the wins came with greater difficulty as he struggled with arthritis. In 1991 he signed for the American Motorola team and enjoyed a career renaissance, winning the Tour Méditerranéen, Tour of Britain and other important races.
Phil Anderson retired from professional racing in 1994.
Major victories and high placings:
1980:
- 2nd place l'Etoile des Espoirs
- 3rd place Paris-Bourges
1981:
- Tour de l'Aude
1982:
- 5th place Tour de France, winning young rider classification and second stage
1983:
- Amstel Gold Race
- Tour de l'Aude
- 2nd place Tour of America
- 2nd place Tour de Romandie
1984:
- Catalonian Week, winning both GC and points classificatons
- Rund um den Hennigner Turm
- Championship of Zürich
- 2nd place Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- 5th place Paris-Nice
- 5th place Tour of Switzerland
1985:
- Tour Méditerranéen
- GP E3
- Rund um den Henninger Turm
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- Tour of Switzerland, winning GC, points and climber classifications
- 2nd place Catalonian Week, winning points classification
- 2nd place Ronde van Vlaanderen
- 2nd place Gent-Wevelgem
- 2nd place Tour of Belgium, winning two stages
- 3rd place GP Eddy Merckx
- 4th place Brabantse Pijl
- 5th place Amstel Gold Race
- 5th place Tour de France
1986:
- Tour of New York
- 3rd place Coors Classic
- 3rd place Giro di Lombardia
- 4th place Giro del Piemonte
1987:
- Milano-Torino
1988:
- Tour of Denmark, winning both general and points classifications
- 2nd place Ronde van Vlaanderen
- 2nd place Milano-Torino
1989:
- Tour of Romandie, winning stage one, general, points and combine classifications
- 3rd place Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- 4th place Three Days of De Panne
1990:
- 2nd place Paris-Tours
- 4th place Three Days of De Panne
1991:
- Tour Méditerranéen, winning two stage
- Settimana Internazionale
- Tour of Britain, winning stage one, general and climber's classifications
- 2nd place GP E3
- 3rd place USPRO Championship
1992:
- Tour of Ireland
- 2nd place Lancaster Classic
- 3rd place Settimana Internazionale
- 3rd place Paris-Brussels
1993
- Tour of Sweden
- Tour of Britain
- GP Impanis
- 2nd place Hamilton Bank Classic
1994:
- Gold Medal Commonwealth Games, team time trial with Henk Vogels, Brett Dennis and Damian McDonald
- 2nd place Corestates Classic
- 3rd place Trofeo Luis Puig
1980 - 1983: Peugeot-Esso-Michelin
1984 - 1986: Panasonic
1987: Panasonic-Isostar
1988: TVM-Van Schilt
1989: TVM-Ragno
1990: TVM
1991 - 1994: Motorola
Nicknames: Skippy (because of a popular TV show Skippy the Bush Kangaroo), Dr. Teeth
Phil Anderson at the 1983 Altenrhein World Championships. Anderson finished ninth that year.
Phil Anderson rides to La Ruchere in stage 15 of the 1984 Tour de France.
Anderson climbs to Serre Chevalier in stage 16 of the 1986 Tour de France.
Anderson digging deep in the prologue time trial of the 1987 Tirreno-Adriatico.
Phil Anderson leads the pack through a hill town in stage 5 of the 1987 Tirreno-Adriatico.
Anderson races through San Benedetto del Tronto in stage 6 of the 1987 Tirreno-Adriatico.
Anderson at the 1987 Giro d'Italia teams presentation. That should be Robert Millar next to him.
Anderson gets ready to ride the 1987 Giro prologue time trial at San Remo.
1987 Tour de France, stage 16: Phil Anderson climbs Mt. Ventoux.
Anderson on his way to L'Alpe d'Huez in stage 18 of the 1987 Tour de France.
Anderson climbs to La Plagne in stage 19 of the 1987 Tour de France.
Phil Anderson is the first leader of the 1988 Tirreno-Adriatico.
Anderson at the 1988 Giro di Lombardia.
Anderson at the start of the 1989 Milano-San Remo.
Anderson (back in TVM jersey) with Stephen Roche (Fagor) and Andy Hampsten (7-Eleven) at the teams presentation of the 1989 Giro d'Italia.
Phil Anderson time trials to Riccione in stage 10 of the 1989 Giro d'Italia.
Anderson wins stage 17 of the 1989 Giro d'Italia in Meda. Gianni Bugno, Moreno Argentin, Maurizio Fondriest and Rolf Raermann are chasing, four seconds back.
1989 Giro d'Italia, stage 22: Phil Anderson time trialing between Prato and Florence.
Anderson at the start of the 1990 Milano-San Remo.
Phil Anderson (in green jersey) suffers with the others on the road to Vallombrosa in stage 7 of the 1990 Giro d'Italia.
Anderson (in blue jersey) on the podium after the 1990 Giro d'Italia's 18th stage. Gianni Bugno is in pink and Cladio Chiappoucci wears green.
Phil Anderson time trials to Villard de Lans in stage 11 of the 1990 Tour de France.
Anderson at the sign-in of the 1992 Tour de France.
1992 Tour de France: on a warm day in July, Phil Anderson climbs to l'Alpe d'Huez.
Anderson leads Claudio Chiappucci in stage 21 of the 1992 Tour de France.