Alexander Vinokourov

Alexander Vinokourov
Алексaндр Винокуров

Vinokourov at the 2011 Tour de Romandie in Switzerland
Personal information
Full name	Alexander Nikolaivich Vinokourov Алексaндр Николаевич Винокуров
Nickname	Vino
Born	(1973-09-16) 16 September 1973 (age 50) Petropavl, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight	69 kg (152 lb; 10 st 12 lb)
Team information
Current team	Astana Qazaqstan Team
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider (retired) General manager
Rider type	All-rounder
Amateur team
1997	EC Saint-Étienne Loire
Professional teams
1998–1999	Casino–Ag2r
2000–2005	Team Telekom
2006	Liberty Seguros–Würth
2007	Astana
2009–2012	Astana
Managerial team
2013–	Astana[1]
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 4 individual stages (2003, 2005, 2010) Combativity award (2003) Vuelta a España General classification (2006) Combination classification (2006) 4 individual stages (2000, 2006) Stage races Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1999) Paris–Nice (2002, 2003) Tour de Suisse (2003) Deutschland Tour (2001) Giro del Trentino (2010) One-day races and Classics Olympic Games Road Race (2012) National Road Race Championships (2005) Liège–Bastogne–Liège (2005, 2010) Amstel Gold Race (2003)
Medal record Representing  Kazakhstan Men's road bicycle racing Olympic Games 2012 London Road Race 2000 Sydney Road Race UCI Road World Championships 2004 Verona Individual Time Trial 2006 Salzburg Individual Time Trial Asian Games 1994 Hiroshima Team Time Trial 1994 Hiroshima Road Race 2002 Busan Road Race Asian Cycling Championships 2009 Tenggarong Individual Time Trial 2009 Tenggarong Road Race

Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov (Kazakh and Russian Александр Николаевич Винокуров; born 16 September 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam Astana Qazaqstan Team.^[2] He is of Russian origin. As a competitor, his achievements include two bronze medals at the World Championships, four stage wins in the Tour de France, four in the Vuelta a España plus the overall title in 2006, two Liège–Bastogne–Liège monuments, one Amstel Gold Race, and the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics Men's Road Race. Vinokourov is a past national champion of Kazakhstan, and a dual-medalist at the Summer Olympics. In 2007, he received a two-year ban from cycling for blood doping. In 2019, he was accused of race fixing by prosecutors in Liège but was later cleared of the charges.^[3]

Vinokourov began cycling in 1984 as an 11-year-old, competing within the former Soviet Union.^[4] He moved to France in 1997 to finish his amateur career, and then turned professional there in 1998. After almost a decade as a professional, Vinokourov was caught blood doping during the 2007 Tour de France, which triggered the withdrawal of the entire Astana team from that year's race. After a 2-year suspension from competition, he returned to cycling in August 2009, riding first for the national team of Kazakhstan and then rejoining Astana. A serious crash during the 2011 Tour de France threatened to prematurely end Vinokourov's career for a second time, but he announced he would continue for one more season in 2012 – with an eye towards competing in the Olympic Games in London. There, Vinokourov played the role of ultimate spoiler when he dramatically won the gold medal in the men's road race after breaking away in the closing miles with Colombian Rigoberto Urán.^[5]

Vinokourov retired after the Olympics and assumed management duties with Astana for 2013. He was sacked as the team principal of Astana-Premier Tech in June 2021.^[6] However, in August 2021 Vinokourov returned as Team manager.^[7] He is an honorary colonel in the Kazakh army but lives in France with his wife and children.