Dani Christmas
Christmas at the 2018 European Road Cycling Championships.
Personal information
Full nameDanielle Christmas
Born (1987-12-21) 21 December 1987
Team information
Current teamDrops–Le Col
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Amateur teams
2015–2016Isorex Ladies Team
2016Lares–Waowdeals (guest)
2017Jos Feron Lady Force
Professional teams
2018Bizkaia Durango–Euskadi Murias
2019–2020Lotto–Soudal Ladies[1][2]
2021Drops–Le Col

Danielle Christmas (born 21 December 1987) is a British former racing cyclist and middle-distance runner, who last rode for UCI Women's Continental Team Drops–Le Col.[3]

Athletics career

Prior to cycling, she was a middle-distance runner. She signed up with Crawley Athletic Club and began competing for them at age 12. In 2002 she placed in the top five of the 800 metres at the AAA under-15 meet and the English Schools' Athletics Championships. She improved to third in the 1500 metres at the 2003 English Schools Championships. She established herself among the best young athletes in the country in 2004, winning the English under-17 title over 800 m and placing second in the AAA Junior Championships 1500 m.[4]

Christmas' first international success came at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, where she took 800 m gold. A runner-up finish at the 2006 AAA Junior Championships led to an appearance at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics, at which she reached the 800 m semi-final. Christmas began attending Loughborough University in 2008. She fell down the rankings in subsequent years but made her first impact at senior level in 2010, placing third at the 2010 British Indoor Athletics Championships and setting a lifetime best of 2:02.54 minutes for the 800 m at the London Grand Prix. In her final year of track and field competition, she ran an indoor best of 2:04.39 minutes for fourth at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix and had her best national finish with second at the 2011 British Indoor Athletics Championships.[4]

Cycling career

Christmas on the Mur de Huy at the 2019 Flèche Wallonne.

In her first professional season in 2018, Christmas won the first edition of the Tour de Belle Isle en Terre–Kreiz Breizh Elites Dames one-day race.[5] She finished 64th in the women's road race event at the 2018 UCI Road World Championships.[6]

In December 2020, Christmas signed a contract with the Drops–Le Col team, for the 2021 season.[7] Christmas retired from competition at the end of the 2021 season.[8]

Broadcasting career

After retirement, Christmas turned to broadcasting, becoming a regular commentator on GCN and Eurosport.[9]

International competitions

Athletics

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2004 Commonwealth Youth Games Bendigo, Australia 1st 800 m 2:10.38
2006 World Junior Championships Beijing, China 5th (semis) 800 m 2:07.26

Cycling

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2018 UCI Road World Championships Innsbruck, Austria 64th Road race +14'51"

References

  1. ↑ "13 pro riders confirmed for the Lotto Soudal Ladies team 2019". Lotto–Soudal Ladies. Belgian Cycling Project. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  2. ↑ "Lotto Soudal Ladies". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Drops-Le Col supported by Tempur". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  4. 1 2 Danielle Christmas. Power of 10. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  5. ↑ "Tour de Belle Isle en Terre - Kreiz Breizh Elites Dames 2018". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  6. ↑ "2018: World Championships - Women's Road Race". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Dani Christmas completes Drops 2021 Squad". Drops. Drops Cycling Ltd. 11 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  8. ↑ Timms, Joe (18 October 2021). "Who is retiring from pro cycling in 2021?". Rouleur. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  9. ↑ Mitchell, Mathew (1 June 2022). "Christmas to DS at Women's Tour • ProCyclingUK.com". ProCyclingUK.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
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