Denis Menchov
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Denis Nikolayevich Menchov |
| Date of birth | January 25, 1978 (age 29) |
| Country |  Russia |
| Height | 1.80 m |
| Weight | 65 kg |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Rabobank |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2000-2004 2005-present |
Banesto Rabobank |
| Major wins | |
| Vuelta a España (2005), 3 stages Tour de France, 1 stage Vuelta al País Vasco (2004) |
|
| Infobox last updated on: | |
| December 13, 2006 | |
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (Russian: Денис Меньшов) (born 25 January 1978 in Orel, Russia) is a professional Russian road bicycle racer. Menchov is a good climber and a man for the General Classification.
Menchov started his professional career in 2000, when he signed for the Banesto team of José Miguel Echevarri. His first success came in 2001, when he won the Tour de l'Avenir, a stage race for professional youth riders. The year after he won a stage and the King of the Mountains in the Dauphiné Liberé. In 2003, Menchov had his big breakthrough when he finished 11th in the Tour de France, and won the youth competition (maillot blanc). 2004 was the last year he rode at Banesto, and it was to be his most successful. He won Vuelta al País Vasco, a stage in Vuelta a Aragon, a stage in Paris-Nice and stage five in the 2004 Vuelta a España, from Zaragoza to Morella.
As Menchov's contract ran out in September 2004, he made a switch to Dutch team Rabobank on a 2 year contract. Here he became the team captain following Levi Leipheimer's departure from the team. He was Rabobank's main contender for the 2005 Tour de France, but due to a cold, he finished in 85th place, 2 hours 35 minutes behind Lance Armstrong[1]. His run in the 2005 Vuelta was in contrast much more successful. Menchov won the stage one (time trial) to Granada and the stage nine time trial to Lloret de Mar, and wore the leader's jersey (golden jersey) for a time. On the 15th stage, though, he lost sight of Roberto Heras on a climb, and ended the race at 2nd overall behind Heras. Roberto Heras was later disqualified for doping, and Menchov received the official win of the 2005 Vuelta. He also captured the event's Combined Classification.
In the 2006 Tour De France Menchov won the 11th stage of the race and second mountain stage of the year's tour (Tarbes to Val d'Aran-Pla-de-Beret). He won the stage after a hard-fought sprint with Americans Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis of Team Gerolsteiner and Phonak Hearing Systems respectively. He had good prospect of ending on the podium, but in the final week, the Tour took its toll on Menchov and he dropped from 3rd to 6th place in the Alps.
[edit] Palmares
- 2001
- 2002
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage 2
- 2003
- Clasica Ciclista los Puertos
- 2004
- Vuelta al Pais Vasco overall and stage 4
- Paris-Nice - stage 6: Rasteau - Gap
- Vuelta a Aragón stage 1
- Vuelta a Espana stage 5
- 2005
- Vuelta a Espana overall and stage 1 and 9
- 2006
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage 4
- Tour de France stage 11
[edit] Notes
| Preceded by Roberto Heras |
Winner of the Vuelta a España 2005 |
Succeeded by Alexandre Vinokourov |
| Riders on Rabobank |
|---|
|
Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano | Michael Boogerd | Jan Boven | Graeme Brown | Thomas Dekker | Theo Eltink | Juan Antonio Flecha | Rick Flens | Óscar Freire | Robert Gesink | Bram de Groot | Mathew Hayman | Pedro Horrillo | Dmitri Kozontchuk | Sebastian Langeveld | Gerben Löwik | Marc de Maar | Denis Menchov | Koos Moerenhout | Grischa Niermann | Joost Posthuma | Michael Rasmussen | Kai Reus | Leon van Bon | Max van Heeswijk | Thorwald Veneberg | William Walker | Pieter Weening |
| Manager |
| Theo de Rooij |
