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Vélo D'Or
The Vélo d'Or (French for "Golden Bicycle") is a cycle racing award, created in 1992 by the French cycling magazine ''Vélo Magazine''. The award is given annually to the rider considered to have performed the best over the year and since 2022 there is also an award for the best female rider. Originally, Lance Armstrong won the Vélo d'Or five times, but his results were removed after USADA stripped him of his Tour victories. The Vélo d'Or for these years was not given to the second-ranked cyclist. Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the V ... holds the record of winning the award four times. There is also another distinction for French racers named " Vélo d'Or français" and since 2023 also for the best Classics rider in the world for men and women, named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Road Bicycle Racing
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common competition formats are mass start events, where riders start simultaneously (though sometimes with a Handicapping, handicap) and race to a set finish point; and time trials, where individual time trial, individual riders or team time trial, teams race a course alone against the clock. Stage races or "tours" take multiple days, and consist of several mass-start or time-trial stages ridden consecutively. Professional racing originated in Western Europe, centred in France, Spain, Italy and the Low Countries. Since the mid-1980s, the sport has diversified, with races held at the professional, semi-professional and amateur levels, worldwide. The sport is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). As w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crowd in Hamburg in 1997. He had podium finishes in the hilly classic Clásica de San Sebastián. His victorious ride in the 1997 Tour de France led to a bicycle boom in Germany. He retired in February 2007. In 2006, Ullrich was barred from the Tour de France amid speculation of having doped. In February 2012, Ullrich was found guilty of a doping offence by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He was retroactively banned from 22 August 2011, and all results gained since May 2005 were removed from his Palmarès. He admitted to blood doping in 2013. Biography Early life and amateur career At a young age, Ullrich joined SG Dynamo Rostock ( de) in his hometown. He won his first bicycle race at the age of nine while riding in sports shoes and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alejandro Valverde
Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009, Tour of the Basque Country in 2017, Volta a Catalunya in 2009, 2017 and 2018, Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2006, 2008, 2015 and 2017, La Flèche Wallonne in 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, the Clásica de San Sebastián in 2008 and 2014, the 2006 and 2008 UCI ProTours, the 2014 and 2015 UCI World Tours, and the road race in the 2018 World Championships. Overall, Valverde has 133 professional wins. Prior to his Worlds win, he already held the record for most medals won at World Championships – he twice collected the silver medal in the World Championships, in 2003 and 2005, as well as the bronze four times in 2006, 2012, 2013 and 2014. As of 2022, Valverde has entered thirty-one grand tours, finished twenty-six of them and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca (born 2 January 1976) is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist, best known for winning the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but also for several positive doping tests, the last of which resulting in a lifetime ban from the sport. Di Luca is also one of six riders to have won each of the three Ardennes classics; he won the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne in 2005, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2007. During his career, Di Luca rode for the Riso Scotti, , , , , , and squads. Di Luca's career was also dogged by numerous infractions, involving three suspensions in relation to doping. In 2007, Di Luca was suspended for three months towards the end of the season, for visiting previously banned doctor Carlo Santuccione, which later escalated into the Oil for Drugs case. In 2009, at the Giro d'Italia, Di Luca tested positive on two occasions for CERA, and was given a backdated – to July 2009 – two-year ban in February 2010, which was later red ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Boonen won the 2005 UCI World Road Race Championships, and was a single-day road specialist with a strong finishing sprint. He won the cycling monuments Paris–Roubaix 4 times and the Tour of Flanders 3 times, among many other prestigious victories, such as prevailing 5 times in the E3 Harelbeke, winning 6 stages of the Tour de France and winning the Overall title of the Tour of Qatar 4 times. Career Early years At the start of 2002 Boonen rode for , finishing third in Paris–Roubaix after an early breakaway. Fellow Belgian Johan Museeuw had escaped to a solo victory. Team captain George Hincapie crashed in a slippery section of the course leaving Boonen to ride for himself. Boonen's performance led Mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Óscar Freire
Óscar Freire Gómez (born 15 February 1976) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen, Eddy Merckx and Peter Sagan. In the later years of his career, he became more of a classics rider. He has won the cycling monument Milan–San Remo three times, four stages in the Tour de France and seven stages of the Vuelta a España, throughout a successful career. Despite his diminutive stature, Freire was a good sprinter. He had a training philosophy where he rode shorter distances than most pro cyclists, sometimes covering only about half the distance his colleagues would. When growing up he contracted tuberculosis and narrowly avoided having a leg amputated.Fotheringham, A. (2014). The Exile. In: E. Bacon and L. Birnie, ed., ''The Cycling Anthology: Volume One''. London: Yellow Jersey Press, pp.208-230. Career Vitalicio Seg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the , and teams. Cunego's biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007 and 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the 2008 UCI ProTour. Primarily a climber, he improved his time-trialing and was characterized by great sprinting ability, unusual for a climber. Career Saeco–Longoni Sport (2002–04) Born in Cerro Veronese, Veneto, Cunego began cycling as a teenager after being a successful cross-country runner. He was discovered by Giuseppe Martinelli who also worked closely with Marco Pantani. Cunego turned professional in 2002 at the age of 20 with , winning the Giro d'Oro and the Giro Medio Brenta in his first season. In 2003 he won the seventh stage and the overall classification of the Tour of Qinghai Lake. He came to promine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Vinokourov
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 . 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. Vinokourov began cycling in 1984 as an 11-year-old, competing within the former Soviet Union. He moved to France in 1997 to finish his am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paolo Bettini
Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974 in Cecina, Tuscany, Cecina, Province of Livorno, Livorno, Tuscany) is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classic cycle races, classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of the strongest of all times, he won gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics road race and in the 2006 UCI Road World Championships, 2006 and 2007 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, 2007 World Road Race Championships. He is nicknamed ''Il Grillo'' ("the cricket") for his repeated sudden attacks and his Sprinting specialist (cycling), sprinting style. He gained prominence by winning Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2000 and 2002. He set the record for World Cup wins in a season in 2003, winning the Milan–San Remo, HEW Cyclassics and Clásica de San Sebastián. He won the Giro di Lombardia in 2005 and 2006, the Züri-Metzgete in 2001 and 2005 and Tirreno–Adriatico ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Cipollini
Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 professional wins, 192 including criteriums) and his colourful personality. His nicknames include ''Il Re Leone'' (''The Lion King'') and ''Super Mario''. He is regarded as the best sprinter of his generation. Life and career Cipollini was born in San Giusto di Compito, surrounded by the mountains of Capannori south of Lucca, Tuscany. He came from a cycling family – his father, Vivaldo, had been a successful amateur racer in his youth, whilst his brother Cesare had raced as a professional and his sister Tiziana had also competed as a cyclist. Mario was a prolific winner in his youth career, scoring a total of 125 victories in age group and amateur races before joining the professional peloton in 1989. His career highlights include the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erik Zabel
Erik Zabel (; born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who raced most of his career with Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest German cyclists and cycling sprinters of all-time. Zabel won a record nine points classifications in grands tours including the points classification in the Tour de France six consecutive years between 1996 and 2001 and the points classification in the Vuelta a España in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Zabel won the Milan–San Remo four times and numerous six-day track events. He was one of the few road cyclists of recent times who raced all year, including track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ... in winter. For season 2012 he joined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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