Cycling Profile: Alexandre Vinokourov (Alexander Nikolaevich Vinokourov) - Part 2
Kazakhstan Cycling Federation hence banned the cyclist for using of the prohibited substance however UCI was annoyed because of the short ban that allowed the cyclist to participate in the 2008 Olympics. Ivan Basso and Tyler Hamilton both faced a two year
ban.
UCI appealed against the decision in 2007 to impose a standard two year ban on the Alexander but the appeal was dropped after he announced his retirement at the end of 2007.
He was riding with team Astana at the 2007 Tour de France and his ban made the team angry who decided to sue the player for the losses along with Cadel Evans and his team. Vinokourov announced his retirement in December, 2007 but soon after he showed interest
in coming back to the sport as he expressed his feelings on a television programme. He said, “I love cycling. I want to come back because I didn’t want to end my career in this way. I feel as if I can win once again the big races.”
The 37-year-old finally made his comeback on August, 2009 as he won the 8.6 kilometre time trial stage 3 in Tour de l'Ain 2009. Cyclist managed to rejoin his old team Astana as he signed up with the team on August 24, 2009.
Alexander participated in the Tour de France 2011 and was leading Pro Team Astana. He was looking good and a strong contender for the general classifications as he was at 11th position after the stage 8 general classifications with 32 seconds
behind Thor Hushovd who was leading the race at that point. Vinokourov was holding the 31st position with 30 points at the end of stage 8.
He was involved in a crash that ended the 2011 Tour de France for many cyclists including Jurgen Van Broeck, Fredrik Willems, Dave Zabriskie and Vinokourov. All the cyclists were seriously injured and were forced to abandon the Tour however Zabriskie tried
to continue with a broken wrist but could not resist the injuries as he too walked out of the race.
Alexander broke his femur and a wrist as he announced his retirement from professional cycling for the second time. He told a French television, “As far as competing goes, I think I will leave it there. I don’t think I’ll get back on my bike as a professional.”
He further added that he will try to find a different position for himself in Astana and will continue to ride his bike but only to enjoy the same fitness.
In the third week of August, 2011 Alexander Vinokourov has made an announcement that he is interested to represent Astana in more race before the retirement and that is more likely to be the Tour of Lombardy starting on October 15, 2011. Cyclist has shown
great recoveries after the crash as he said, “The exams revealed that I’m recovering very well form my injury after the crash in last Tour de France.”
He added that doctors have allowed him to start the training in coming days and he is hopeful to ride in the last race of the season, Tour of Lombardy and that could have also been the last race of his career.
Vinokourov who is still at 10th position with 230 points as per the UCI World Tour standings of August 2011, he is looking ahead to win the Tour of Lombardy and help team Astana to move up the UCI teams classification who currently resides at
the 14th position according to the August 2011 UCI World Tour Teams rankings.
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