Denis Menchov going for his fourth Grand Tour win
Two time Vuelta a Espana winner, last year’s Giro d'Italia victor and the leader of Team Rabobank, Denis Menchov, has one again shifted focus with confidence to the Tour de France.
"My idea is to aim for the Tour de France and I think the Giro is a race that will help me prepare for that and so I have decided against riding in the Vuelta," the Rabobank rider said to Marca. "At Rabobank we've got a very strong team in all areas. We've got people who can challenge for overall victory, sprinters like [Oscar] Freire and one-day specialists like Juan Antonio Flecha."
Menchov, a strong all-around rider and a good climber, has entered the 2010 Tour well rested. After declining to defend his Vuelta a Espana title in 2008 to focus on the Tour de France, he did the same this year by turning down the Giro d'Italia, which he won in 2009. He finished 25th in the Criterium du Dauphine Libere this year.
"I wasn't in good form at the Dauphine Criterium last month, but my form is starting to come good now," said the Russian. "I know that I'm one of the top GC riders out there—there's not a lot of riders who can win major Tours, so I'm not worried."
A few weeks to recuperate and do altitude training should be just enough to get into a good form for the start of the Tour,” team manager Maassen said after the Dauphine. “He doesn't doubt that. He will end this race relaxed. That is what we have gained from the Dauphine.”
An eventual victory at the Tour de France would make Menchov only the sixth cyclist to win all three Grand Tours. His current overall classification is 13th, while Rabobank is in 12th in the team classification.
Menchov is the only leading contender aside from Contador to have won both the Giro and the Vuelta. He races for the yellow jersey in the Tour in 2006 and 2008, but on both occasions it was the mountain stages which found him falling behind. However, he took home the mountains classification at the Vuelta in 2007, and won a mountain stage at the Giro last year. We will see at the end of stages 9 and 10 if he has overcome his mountain failings.
A decent career resume
Menchov became a professional cyclist in 2000, riding for Team Banesto. His first won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001 and a year later he won the king of the mountain title and one stage victory in the Dauphiné Liberé.
Menchov's breakthrough came with an 11th place finish in the 2003 Tour de France. He won the Vuelta a España in 2005 and 2007, then declined to defend his title in 2008 in order to concentrate on the Tour de France, ultimately finishing in fourth.
He has again declined to defend his title for the same reason after narrowly winning the Giro d’Italia last year. In the final time trial, entering with a 20-second lead, Menchov lost his front wheel on the wet cobblestones and went down in a heap. The team car quickly provided him with a new bike, and Menchov even managed to add to his overall lead, with a 41 second victory.
"I don’t know which one suits me better, it’s hard to say,” said Menchov after his Giro victory. “I like the Giro, the mountains, but also the Tour’s route. I think the two races are similar this year. They are both going to be hard races."
With three overall Grand Tour victories and countless general classifications and stage wins, a Tour de France title is notably missing. Menchov won the Tour's young rider classification in 2003 and finished in fifth overall with a stage 11 win in 2006. Will 2010 be the year?
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