Alexandr VINOKUROV

Aleksandr Vinokurov is a Kazakh professional who has been a top all-arounder in the professional peloton. He won the 2006 Vuelta à España and in his career has won four stages at the Vuelta and three at the Tour de France. Vinokurov's first major win was at Dauphiné-Libéré in 1999. He followed this with a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in the road race. His other major wins included Paris-Nice in 2002-03, the Tour de Suisse and Amstel Gold Race in 2003, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2005. Vinokurov was not able to ride at the 2006 Tour because five of his teammates were implicated in the Operación Puerto scandal, although Vino was not. But at the 2007 Tour, after winning stages 13 and 15, he was found to have a positive for blood doping and was removed before the start of stage 16, eventually facing a two-year ban from the peloton. He announced his retirement at the end of 2007, but did come back to racing in 2009.