Hanka Kupfernagel

Who is Hanka Kupfernagel?

Hanka Kupfernagel is a German professional cycle racer. Currently her primary focus is cyclocross racing, however, she has 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; the silver medal in 2002 and 2003; and the bronze medal in 2004.

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-time 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.