Thorvald Ellegaard

Thorvald Ellegaard ( born March 7, 1877 in Fangel Sogn, Fyn, † April 27, 1954 in Charlottenlund, Gentofte ) was a Danish cyclist.

Thorvald Ellegaard is considered one of the greatest athletes of Denmark. From 1895 to 1898 continued the " flyers" (now Sprint ) race as an amateur; in its early days, he trained in the "Graz Trainierschule " by Alexander Gayer.

From 1898 to 1926 Ellegaard was active as a professional and was six times world champion in the sprint. Overall, he won no less than 875 victories on 153 different racing tracks in Europe, North America and Australia. Twice, in 1901 and 1911, he won the Sprint Classic Grand Prix de Paris, and three times, 1903, 1907 and 1912, the Grand Prix de l' UVF. Since he was very popular in Germany, he was obliged in 1910 for a daily fee of 1,000 Reichsmarks for the Berlin six-day race, but had to give up completely exhausted ( as a sprinter ) after three days.

On September 26, 1926 at the age of 49 years, he took in Copenhagen farewell to his active racing career and was a short time sports director at the velodrome in Ordrup. His last years were spent Ellegaard in Paris, where he had lived during his playing days.

Thorvald Ellegaard was the father of France Ellegaard (1912-1999), one of the most famous pianists constant Scandinavia.