Denis Menchov

Denis Menchov

Personal information
Full name	Denis Nikolayevich Menchov
Nickname	Denny[1]
Date of birth	25 January 1978 (1978-01-25) (age 31)
Country	Russia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	65 kg (140 lb; 10.2 st)
Team information
Current team	Rabobank
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)1
2000–2004 2005–present	Banesto Rabobank
Major wins
Vuelta a España (2005, 2007), 4 stages Mountains Classification (2007) Combination Classification (2007) Giro d'Italia (2009), 2 stages Tour de France, 1 stage Young rider classification (2003) Vuelta al País Vasco (2004) Vuelta a Murcia (2009)
Infobox last updated on:
May 26, 2009 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (Russian: Денис Николаевич Меньшов, correct English transliteration is Menshov; born 25 January 1978 in Oryol) is a professional Russian road bicycle racer. He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2007 he won the Vuelta a España for the second time, and in 2009 won the centenary Giro d'Italia.

Professional career

The Banesto years

Menchov started his professional career in 2000 with 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 young professionals. A year later he won a stage and the King of the Mountains in the Dauphiné Liberé. In 2003, Menchov had his breakthrough when he finished 11th in the Tour de France, and won the youth competition (maillot blanc). 2004 was his last year at Banesto and 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.

The Rabobank years

Menchov's contract ran out in September 2004 and he moved to the Dutch team Rabobank team for two years. He became team captain following Levi Leipheimer's departure. He was Rabobank's main contender for the 2005 Tour de France, but due to a cold, he finished 85th , 2h 35m behind Lance Armstrong.^[2] His 2005 Vuelta was more successful. He won the opening time trial to Granada and the stage nine time trial to Lloret de Mar, and wore the leader's golden jersey. On the 15th stage, he lost sight of Roberto Heras on a climb and ended the race second behind Heras. Heras was later disqualified for doping,^[3] and Menchov received the official win of the 2005 Vuelta. He also captured the event's Combined Classification.^[4]

In the 2006 Tour de France Menchov won the 11th stage - the second mountain stage - from Tarbes to Aran Valley-Pla-de-Beret after a sprint with Leipheimer and Floyd Landis. The final week took its toll and he dropped from 3rd to 6th in the Alps.

Menchov abandoned the 2007 Tour de France on stage 17, the day after his teammate Michael Rasmussen was fired from Rabobank.^[5] Later that year, he won the Vuelta a España after leading during the second half of the race. He also won a stage, the mountains classification and the combination classification.

In 2008 Menchov did not ride the Vuelta but concentrated on Tour de France.^[6] He ended fourth. However, third-placed Bernhard Kohl was disqualified for doping. Riders have not been elevated to fill Kohl's place, so Menchov remains fourth.

In 2009 Menchov won the Giro d'Italia, with wins in stages 5 and 12. Despite crashing in the final kilometer of the last-stage time-trial through Rome, Menchov held the pink jersey and extended his lead by 21s, winning by 41 seconds over Italy's Danilo Di Luca.^[7][8]

Palmares

Grand Tour timeline

Grand Tour	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Giro								5	1
Tour	47	93	11	WD	85	5	WD	3	51
Vuelta				WD	1	WD	1

WD=Withdrew

References

External links

• Profile on Rabobank official website
• Palmarès at Trap-Friis.dk
• Official website

v • d • e Winners of the young rider classification in the Tour de France 1975 Moser • 1976 Martínez Heredia • 1977 Thurau • 1978 Lubberding • 1979 Bernaudeau • 1980 Van der Velde • 1981 Winnen • 1982 Anderson • 1983 Fignon • 1984 LeMond • 1985 Parra • 1986 Hampsten • 1987 Alcalá • 1988 Breukink • 1989 Philipot • 1990 Delion • 1991 Mejía • 1992 Bouwmans • 1993 Martín • 1994–1995 Pantani • 1996–1998 Ullrich • 1999 Salmon • 2000 Mancebo • 2001 Sevilla • 2002 Basso • 2003 Menchov • 2004 Karpets • 2005 Popovych • 2006 Cunego • 2007 Contador • 2008–2009 A. Schleck

v • d • e Winners of the general classification in the Giro d'Italia 1909 Luigi Ganna • 1910–11 Carlo Galetti • 1912* Team Atala • 1913 Carlo Oriani • 1914 Alfonso Calzolari 1915–18 World War I 1919 Costante Girardengo • 1920 Gaetano Belloni • 1921–22 Giovanni Brunero • 1923 Costante Girardengo • 1924 Giuseppe Enrici • 1925 Alfredo Binda 1926 Giovanni Brunero • 1927–29 Alfredo Binda • 1930 Luigi Marchisio • 1931 Francesco Camusso • 1932 Antonio Pesenti • 1933 Alfredo Binda • 1934 Learco Guerra 1935 Vasco Bergamaschi • 1936–37 Gino Bartali • 1938–39 Giovanni Valetti • 1940 Fausto Coppi 1941–45 World War I 1946 Gino Bartali • 1947 Fausto Coppi • 1948 Fiorenzo Magni • 1949 Fausto Coppi • 1950 Hugo Koblet • 1951 Fiorenzo Magni • 1952–53 Fausto Coppi 1954 Carlo Clerici • 1955 Fiorenzo Magni • 1956 Charly Gaul • 1957 Gastone Nencini • 1958 Ercole Baldini • 1959 Charly Gaul • 1960 Jacques Anquetil 1961 Arnaldo Pambianco • 1962–63 Franco Balmamion • 1964 Jacques Anquetil • 1965 Vittorio Adorni • 1966 Gianni Motta • 1967 Felice Gimondi • 1968 Eddy Merckx 1969 Felice Gimondi • 1970 Eddy Merckx • 1971 Gösta Pettersson • 1972–74 Eddy Merckx • 1975 Fausto Bertoglio • 1976 Felice Gimondi • 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Johan de Muynck • 1979 Giuseppe Saronni • 1980 Bernard Hinault • 1981 Giovanni Battaglin • 1982 Bernard Hinault • 1983 Giuseppe Saronni 1984 Francesco Moser • 1985 Bernard Hinault • 1986 Roberto Visentini • 1987 Stephen Roche • 1988 Andy Hampsten • 1989 Laurent Fignon • 1990 Gianni Bugno 1991 Franco Chioccioli • 1992–93 Miguel Indurain • 1994 Evgeni Berzin • 1995 Tony Rominger • 1996 Pavel Tonkov • 1997 Ivan Gotti • 1998 Marco Pantani 1999 Ivan Gotti • 2000 Stefano Garzelli • 2001 Gilberto Simoni • 2002 Paolo Savoldelli • 2003 Gilberto Simoni • 2004 Damiano Cunego • 2005 Paolo Savoldelli 2006 Ivan Basso • 2007 Danilo Di Luca • 2008 Alberto Contador • 2009 Denis Menchov *This Giro was contested solely by teams, with no individual classification