The German rider is 26 years old and he has 5 successes since he turned pro, one of which is a stage win on the Vuelta a Andalucia in 2012. Patrick Gretsch is a time-trial specialist. He won the U19 ITT World Championship in 2004 and, this year, he finished 2nd in the German ITT Championship.
Vincent Lavenu, general manager of the AG2R LA MONDIALE Pro Cycling Team: “I spotted Patrick Gretsch last year thanks to his good results in the individual time-trials on the Tour de France 2012. He has excellent qualities on time-trial but he is also able to lead out our sprinters and to maintain his leaders at the race forefront. We were looking for a rider with this kind of profile and Patrick will certainly be an extra asset to our 2014 team.”
Highlights – Patrick Gretsch
Date and place of birth : 7th April 1987 in Erfurt (Germany)
Nationality : German
Resides in : Kreuzlingen(Switzerland)
Height / Weight : 1m87 / 72 kg
Profile : Time-trial specialist
Turned pro in 2006
Former teams : Thüringer Energie Team (2006/2009); Team HTC – Columbia (2010); HTC-Highroad (2011); Argos-Shimano (2012/2013)
Professional wins : 5
Twitter : @patrickgretsch
2004
· U19 ITT World Champion
· U19 German National ITT Champion
· 2nd U19 World Championship Team Pursuit
· 3rd U19 World Championship Individual Pursuit
2005
· U19 German National Champion Individual Pursuit
· U19 German National Champion Team Pursuit
· U19 German National ITT Champion
2006 (Thüringer Energie Team)
· 7th overall, Drei-Länder-Tour
2007 (Thüringer Energie Team)
· 2nd on a stage, Bradenburg Rundfahrt
· 4th on a stage, Drei-Länder-Tour
· 4th on a stage, U23 Thüringen-Rundfahrt
· 5th on a stage, Circuit des Ardennes
2008 (Thüringer Energie Team)
· Overall and stage winner, U23 Thüringen-Rundfahrt
· 2nd on a stage, Flèche du Sud
· 2nd U23 ITT World Championship
· 7th on a stage, Bayern-Rundfahrt
2009 (Thüringer Energie Team)
· 2nd on a stage, Boucle de l’Artois
· 2nd on a stage, U23 Thüringen-Rundfahrt / 4th overall
· 3rd U23 ITT World Championship
· 4th on a stage, Tour de l’Avenir
· 7th on a stage, Bayern-Rundfahrt
· 9th overall, Rund um Köln
2010 (Team HTC – Columbia)
· 2nd German National ITT Championship
· 2nd on a stage, Österreich-Rundfahrt
· 5th on a stage, Vuelta a Murcia
· 6th on a stage, Bayern-Rundfahrt
· 6th on a stage, Tour of Denmark
· 8th and 10th on stages, Critérium du Dauphiné
2011 (HTC-Highroad)
· Stage winner, Ster Elektrotoer
· Stage winner, USA Pro Cycling Challenge
· 3rd on a stage, Österreich-Rundfahrt
· 3rd on a stage, Tour of Utah
· 3rd German National ITT Championship
· 6th on a stage, Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
· 7th on a stage, Tour de Romandie
· 8th on a stage, Giro d’Italia
2012 (Argos-Shimano)
· Stage winner, Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta del Sol
· 6th and 7th on stages, Tour de France
· 8th German National ITT Championship
2013 (Argos-Shimano)
· 2nd German National ITT Championship
· 5th on stage, Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta del Sol
· 10th on a stage, Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen