Introduction
Michael Albasini (born 20 December 1980) is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI WorldTeam Orica–Scott.
Professional career
Albasini began his career in 2003 with Phonak, moved to Liquigas–Bianchi at the beginning of 2005, and signed with Team Columbia–High Road for the 2009 season. Since 2012, Albasini has been riding with the Australian professional cycling team GreenEDGE.
In 2012, Albasini met success at the UCI World Tour race Volta a Catalunya. The six-stage event contained no time trials, and Albasini took the lead by triumphing on the very first stage over Anthony Delaplace from Saur–Sojasun, getting a 42 seconds overall lead. On the very next stage, he was part of a select group of about 20 riders that were led to the line by Bradley Wiggins after a day in the mountains and he outsprinted his rivals, taking his second win in a row. He held on to his advantage on the following hilly stages, winning the overall classification by 1 minute and 30 seconds over second-placed Samuel Sánchez of Euskaltel–Euskadi.
In 2015, Albasini took a prestigious podium placing at the La Flèche Wallonne, coming in third place atop the Mur de Huy behind Alejandro Valverde and Julian Alaphilippe. He later won the second stage of the Tour de Romandie, having the better in the sprint of a group of 49 riders who had survived the climb and descent of the Col de la Vue des Alpes. He repeated the feat the very next day in Porrentruy, winning by a couple of bike lengths over Julian Alaphilippe. He had to abandon the Tour de France on Stage 5, suffering from a broken arm after a crash.