Hanka Kupfernagel
Hanka Kupfernagel (born 19 March 1974 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a retired German professional cycle racer. During most of her career her primary focus was cyclo-cross racing, however, she has also won major road, track and mountain bike races. She has won seven consecutive medals at the UCI Women's Cyclo-cross World Championships, including three gold medals for 2000, 2001 and 2005; two silver medals in 2002 and 2003; and the bronze medal in 2004. Her major career victories also include a gold medal in the individual time trial competition at the 2007 UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart and a silver medal in the road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Kupfernagel competing in cyclo-cross in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Hanka Kupfernagel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 March 1974 Gera, Bezirk Gera, East Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Current team | Retired | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines |
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| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amateur teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | RC Charlottenburg Berlin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Horizon Fitness Racing Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Maxx–Solar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2001 | Team Farm Frites–Hartol | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Vlaanderen–T Interim Univega Ladies Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | RusVelo Women's Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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She finished 1st in the year-end UCI world class rankings in 1997 and 1999 winning the 1999 La Flèche Wallonne Féminine in the process. Kupfernagel captured the Emakumeen Bira cyclo-cross race three consecutive years from 1997 to 1999.
In 2007, the three-times world cyclo-cross champion added world time trial champion to her palmares when she won gold at the 2007 UCI Road World Championships Women's Time Trial. She also won the Sparkassen Giro Bochum.
In 2008, she had a very strong cyclo-cross season, winning two World Cup races and even though she finished at second place for six times, she had enough point to claim the overall World Cup title. She seemed to be the favourite for the women's race at the 2009 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hoogerheide, she was not able to defend her title as Marianne Vos beat her during a sprint finish and left her with the silver medal.
Kupfernagel officially retired in 2016. After three and a half years out of competition she participated in the German cyclo-cross championship 2019 at the age of 44 finishing the race in the second place.