Daniel Wilhelmus Maria Nelissen (born 10 November 1970 in Sittard

Sittard

Sittard is a city in the Dutch province of Limburg, which is the southernmost province of the Netherlands.On the east Sittard borders on Germany . It has some 48,400 inhabitants . Sittard is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer and current sports commentator

Sports commentator

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

 at Eurosport

Eurosport

Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...

. He won the 1995 amateur world championship and was named Dutch Sportsman of the year

Dutch Sportsman of the year

The Dutch Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year are chosen annually by Dutch athletes from a shortlist compiled by sports journalists. The elections are organized by the Dutch Olympic Committee.- Sporter of the Year :...

.

He started his professional career in 1990 with PDM, for which he won his first professional race, the Grand Prix de Wallonie

Grand Prix de Wallonie

The Grand Prix de Wallonie is an annual road bicycle race held annually in Wallonia, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.-Palmarès:-External links:*...

, in 1992. In 1994, while riding for the Dutch TVM

TVM (cycling team)

TVM was a Dutch road bicycle racing team. It folded in 2000, two years after suffering a doping scandal. Farm Frites continued as a sponsor in 2001 with the new team, .-Names:-Riders:...

 team, he developed heart rhythm impairments and returned to ride at amateur level. The following year in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 he won the amateur world championship. He was the last amateur world champion, the UCI

Union Cycliste Internationale

Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....

 replacing the race with a youth competition in 1996. The triumph lead to Nelissen's election as 1995 Dutch Sportsman of the year. He was brought into the Rabobank team for two years under manager Jan Raas

Jan Raas

Jan Raas is a Dutch former professional cyclist whose 115 wins include the 1979 World Road Race Championship in Valkenburg, he also won the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1979 and 1983, Paris–Roubaix in 1982 and Milan – San Remo in 1977. He won ten stages in the Tour de France...

. In the 1996 Tour de France

1996 Tour de France

The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....

, he wore the polka dot jersey

Polka dot jersey

The Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...

 of the strongest rider in the mountains for a couple of days. Before 1998, he joined the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 team, Team Home - Jack & Jones (later named Team CSC

Team CSC

Team Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...

).

In January 1999, further heart problems brought his retirement at 28.

He's currently production manager of Dutch Eurosport.

Wins

1992

• Grand Prix de Wallonie
  Grand Prix de Wallonie
  The Grand Prix de Wallonie is an annual road bicycle race held annually in Wallonia, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.-Palmarès:-External links:*...
  
  

1992

• 130th overall, 1992 Tour de France
  1992 Tour de France
  The 1992 Tour de France was the 79th Tour de France, taking place July 4 to July 26, 1992. The total race distance was 21 stages over 3983 km, with riders averaging 39.504 km/h...
  
  

1995

• Dokkum Woudenomloop
• Eurode Omloop
• Amateur World Champion
• Stage 3, Tour de Wallonie
  Tour de Wallonie
  The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour- Winners...
  
  

1996

• Drielandenomloop
• 84th overall, 1996 Tour de France
  1996 Tour de France
  The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....
  
  

1998

• Schaal Schels Merksem
• Stage 3, Hessen Rundfahrt