José Bento Azevedo Carvalho (born 19 September 1973) is a Portuguese retired

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, and most recently, general manager of UCI WorldTeam . During his racing career, Azevedo rode for between 2001 and 2003 and for between 2004 and 2006.

Career

Born in Vila do Conde, Azevedo's principal career successes were fifth overall at the

2001 Giro d'Italia The 2001 Giro d'Italia was the 84th edition of the Giro. It began with a prologue that went from Montesilvano to Pescara. The race came to a close on June 10 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Twenty teams enter ...

, sixth overall at the

2002 Tour de France The 2002 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 6 to 28 July, and the 89th edition of the Tour de France. The event started in Luxembourg and ended in Paris. The Tour circled France counter-clockwise, visiting the Pyrenees b ...

and fifth overall at the

2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti ...

. He also made a second place in the Germany Tour, just behind Michael Rogers. He won the queen-stage of the German competition. Until 2005 he was a renowned domestique; his primary role was to serve as Lance Armstrong's lieutenant in mountain stages, specifically stages in the Pyrenees Mountains. Lance Armstrong described him as the best lieutenant he has ever had. Nicknamed "The Ace", he moved to US Postal (which became the now-defunct Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) from Team ONCE (also defunct) in 2004. In 2006 Azevedo wore the #1 background during the Tour de France and he claimed the highest finish in the general classification amongst his Discovery Channel teammates. Azevedo finished 18th overall, 37 minutes and 11 seconds behind race winner

Óscar Pereiro Óscar Pereiro Sío (; born 3 August 1977) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. Pereiro was declared the winner of the 2006 Tour de France, after the original winner Floyd Landis was disqualified for failing a doping test afte ...

, following the disqualification of apparent winner

Floyd Landis Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He finished first at the 2006 Tour de France, and would have been the third non-European winner in the event's history, but was disqualified after test ...

. To be able to spend more time with his family, Azevedo opted for a home team. He became the leader of the Benfica cycling team and aimed to win the Tour of Portugal. Azevedo finished his career at the end of the Tour of Portugal 2008. In 2013 he was the directeur sportif for Chris Horner when he won the Vuelta.

Career achievements

Major results

;1994 : 6th Overall Volta ao Algarve ;1995 : 1st Prologue

Grande Prémio Jornal de Notícias Grande Prémio Jornal de Notícias is a multi-day road cycling race held annually in Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian P ...

: 4th Overall Volta ao Algarve : 8th Overall Volta a Portugal ;1996 : 1st MaillotPortugal

Time trial, National Road Championships : 1st Overall

Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul was a stage race, stage cycling race held annually in Portugal. It was part of UCI Europe Tour in category 2.1 from 2005 to 2006. Winners References

UCI Europe Tour races Cycle races in Portugal Rec ...

: 5th Overall Volta a Portugal ;1997 : 1st MaillotPortugal

Time trial, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 11 (ITT) Volta a Portugal : 6th Overall

Volta ao Alentejo The Volta ao Alentejo (Portuguese; en, Tour of Alentejo) is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Alentejo, Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a seri ...

;1998 : 1st Overall Troféu Joaquim Agostinho ::1st Stages 3 & 5 : 1st Stage 5 (ITT) Volta a Portugal : 4th Overall Volta ao Algarve : 7th Overall

;1999 : 1st Stage 4 Troféu Joaquim Agostinho : 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships : 4th Overall

: 5th Overall

: 8th Overall Volta a Portugal : 9th

Subida al Naranco Subida al Naranco is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early June each year. The event was first run in 1941 but was not held consistently until 1981. Between 2005 and 2010, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Euro ...

: 10th Overall Volta ao Algarve ;2000 : 1st Overall

G.P. Portugal Telecom ''G.P.'' is an Australian television series produced by Roadshow, Coote & Carroll for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the series was broadcast for 8 seasons between 1989 and 1996. Synopsis The series, screened on the ABC, is set aro ...

: 1st Prologue GP Sport Noticias : 2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve ::1st Stage 5 : 2nd Overall

: 4th Overall Volta a Portugal : 4th Overall Vuelta a Asturias ::1st Stage 4 ;2001 : 1st MaillotPortugal

Time trial, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve ::1st Stage 3 : 5th Overall

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

: 5th Overall Giro d'Italia : 8th Overall Tour of the Basque Country ;2002 : 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España : 3rd Overall Euskal Bizikleta : 3rd Overall

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation cou ...

: 5th La Flèche Wallonne : 6th Overall Tour de France : 8th Klasika Primavera ;2003 : 2nd Overall Deutschland Tour ::1st Stage 5 ;2004 : 1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France : 5th Overall Tour de France : 10th Overall

;2005 : 1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France : 10th Overall

Tour de Georgia The Tour de Georgia was a U.S. professional road cycling stage race across the state of Georgia. The race began in 2003 and was contested six times until 2008. It was one of the three events in North America ranked as Hors Classe (2.HC) stage rac ...

;2006 : 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 5th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León : 6th Overall

: 10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country ;2007 : 1st Stage 4

GP CTT Correios de Portugal The GP CTT Correios de Portugal is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions ...

: 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships : 6th Overall Tour de Luxembourg : 6th Overall Volta a Portugal ;2008 : 6th Overall

: 9th Overall Vuelta a Asturias

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Azevedo, Jose 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Vila do Conde Portuguese male cyclists Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Portugal S.L. Benfica (cycling) Sportspeople from Porto District