Cycling Profile: Alexandre Vinokourov (Alexander Nikolaevich Vinokourov) - Part 1
Alexandre Vinokourov who is also nicknamed as “Vino” is Kazakhstani by nationality but a Russian ethnically and decided to ride for Kazakhstan after it declared independence on December 16, 1991.
He is believed to have stepped in the sport by the age of 13 however Vincent Lavenu stated that Vinokourov actually started cycling when he was 11. The former French cyclist who became the Directeur Sportif in 1992, Vincent was the man who offered the first
professional contract to him and believes that Vinokourov competed in cyclo-cross at the age of 11.
During the Tour de France, 2007 he was banned from the sport for blood doping which is a process that improves the amount of RBCs (red blood cells) in bloodstream. Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen to the muscles through lungs and increase
in the number of such cells enhances the athletic performance of the player. Blood doping is hence banned in the sport and the Kazakhstani cyclist had to face a one year ban for the same purpose.
During the first year of his career the 37-year-old won six races including the stage race Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in 1999. He won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré after defeating the American cyclist Jonathan Vaughters and regained the yellow jersey.
In 2000 Alexander joined the German Team Telecom as he was supporting Jan Ullrich in the Tour de France 2000 and yet managed to secure the 15th position for himself followed by a third position in Criterium International as he won the Paris-Nice
competition same year.
Team Telecom which is now known as HTC Highroad changed their nationality from German to American in February 2008 and has now announced their demise by the end of 2011 because team has failed to find a sponsor for the coming season.
Alexander brought his first win for the team during his first year as he won the stage 18 of Vuelta a Espana 2000 followed by a second position in 2000 Olympic Games as he finished ahead of Ullrich and his team-mate Andreas Kloden won the event.
Tour de France 2007 brought the worst memories of his career as he injured both his knees losing precious time during the first week of the Tour but managed to come back as he won the individual time trials defeating Cadel Evans by 1 minute and 14 seconds
along with a stage 15 win at Loudenvielle. Alexander was excited on winning the stage as he mentioned, “I am happy with my performance, I am finding my legs again. Now I want to attack in the Pyrenees. I want to thank everyone in and around the team that encouraged
me to get through the Alps.”
On July 24th, 2007 Vinokourov was tested positive for blood doping followed by a positive sample B few days later which disqualified him from the event and Cadel Evans became the winner of stage 13 whereas the stage 15 victory was rewarded to
Luxembourg cyclist Kim Kirchen.
British commentator Phil Liggett who has been attached to the Tour de France for a long time as he holds the honour of reporting in 38 Tours along with 13 Olympic events commented after Vinokourov’s positive sample B as he said, “It is incomprehensible that
Vinokourov could do such a thing when he must have known he was under suspicion because of his dealing with disgraced doctor Michele Ferrari in Italy.” Phil further added that Vinokourov should have been aware of the fact that he can be tested any time and
the time trials were the most suitable time.
Continued in Part 2
Tags: