Vladimir Alexandrovich Efimkin (russian: Владимир Александрович Ефимкин) (born December 2, 1981 in Kuybyshev) is a Russian retired professional

road bicycle racer 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 ...

, who last rode alongside his twin brother

Alexander Efimkin Alexander Alexandrovich Efimkin (russian: Александр Александрович Ефимкин, born 2 December 1981 in Kuybyshev) is a Russian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2006 and 2012 fo ...

on . He had established himself as a solid all-around cyclist.

Biography

In 2005, his first year has a pro, Efimkin started with solid results in April and May, with a huge performance in the

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk (french: Quatre Jours de Dunkerque) is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been h ...

, where he won a stage and almost won the overall classification, finishing second. However, his major title of the season only came in August, where he won the

Volta a Portugal The Volta a Portugal ( en, Tour of Portugal), also known as Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta ( en, Tour of Portugal on Bicycle), is an annual multi-stage road bicycle racing competition held in Portugal. The competition takes place during a two-week s ...

. After a fabulous breakaway in one of the queen stages, and benefiting from the passivity of the peloton (that were known to underrate the unknown Russian), he captured the yellow jersey and kept it until the end. Vladimir Efimkin

In 2006, he joined , but was used more as a

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équipier''. In I ...

. His main achievement was a second place in the 10th stage of the Giro d'Italia and a 3rd place in the overall classification of the

Vuelta a La Rioja The Vuelta a La Rioja ( en, Tour of La Rioja) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race held in La Rioja. From 2005 to 2008, it was a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competi ...

. Efimkin finally exploded in a major competition in 2007. After finishing 6th place in the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

, he made a great

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

, winning in the summit finish of the Lagos de Covadonga. He wore the golden jersey for some days and was able to finish in the 6th position of the overall. In 2008, Efimkin joined the French team, where he was one of the leaders for the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. It is possible he will be awarded a stage win from the 2008 Tour, having finished second to

Riccardo Riccò Riccardo Riccò (born 1 September 1983) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who is suspended from all competition until 2024. He was previously ejected from the 2008 Tour de France for doping violations and suspended. Riccò returned ...

during stage 9, with Riccò's subsequent positive doping test potentially disqualifying him of the victory. He finished in 11th place overall. Efimkin quit cycling in the middle of the 2010 season, but came back in 2011 to ride along with his brother for . After one year of racing, he quit again.CYCLING FAMILIES: THE EFIMKIN TWINS
/ref>

Major results

;2005 : 1st overall and 1 stage

: 2nd overall and 1 stage

: 1 stage and 4th overall

Vuelta a Aragón Vuelta a Aragón is a professional bicycle road race held in Spain in May of each year. The event was first run in 1939, and was not held between 2006 and 2017. The future of the race is uncertain; there had been plans to organise it again, but an ...

;2006 : 3rd overall

;2007 : 1 stage,

: 6th overall,

: 1 stage,

Euskal Bizikleta Euskal Bizikleta (Spanish: ''Bicicleta Vasca'', English: ''Basque Bicycle'') was an annual road cycling stage race held in the Basque Country in June. From 2005 to 2008, the race was organized as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, it ...

: 6th overall 2007 Tour de Suisse ;2008 : 11th overall

:: 1st, Stage 9 ;2009 :Aggressive rider stage 4 2009 Tour Down Under

References

External links

* Russian male cyclists 1981 births Living people Russian Vuelta a España stage winners Olympic cyclists of Russia Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Samara, Russia Volta a Portugal winners {{russia-cycling-bio-stub