Roel Paulissen

Roel Paulissen
Personal information
Full nameRoel Paulissen
Born (1976-04-27) 27 April 1976
Hasselt, Belgium
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11+12 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Team information
DisciplineMountain biking
Road
RoleRider
Rider typeCross-country
Professional teams
1996–1999American Eagle
2000–2001Team GT
2001Rainer Wurz-Sud Tirol
2001Lotto–Adecco
2002Lanabau-Rainer Wurz
2003–2004Siemens Mobile
2004–2008Jong Vlaanderen
2007–2008Cannondale-Vredestein
2009–2010Cannondale Factory Racing
2013Torpado
Major wins
Cape Epic (2005, 2008)
Medal record
Representing  Belgium
Men's mountain bike marathon
World Championships
2008 VillabassaMen's race
2009 GrazMen's race
2007 VerviersMen's race
2006 OisansMen's race
Men's mountain bike racing
World Championships
2003 LuganoCross-country
1998 Mont Sainte-AnneUnder-23 Cross-country
European Championships
2000 RhenenCross-country
2002 ZürichCross-country

Roel Paulissen (born 27 April 1976 in Hasselt) is a Belgian former professional mountain biker. Throughout his sporting career since 1993, he has won more than ten Belgian national championship titles, mounted top-five finishes at both the European and World Cup series, and claimed a total of four medals, including two golds, in men's cross-country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Paulissen also represented his nation Belgium in four editions of the Olympic Games (1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008), where he competed in men's mountain biking since it officially became an Olympic sport in 1996. By the start of the 2010 season, Paulissen had been overshadowed by a doping issue after he tested positive for clomiphene that sidelined and effectively ended his mountain biking career. Having lifted a two-year suspension from doping in early 2013, Paulissen came out from his short retirement to join and race professionally for the Italian team Torpado.