Denis Menchov

Denis Menchov

Menchov at the 2011 Tour de Romandie
Personal information
Full name	Denis Nikolayevich Menchov
Nickname	The Silent Assassin The Pope Denny[1]
Born	25 January 1978 (1978-01-25) (age 33) Oryol, Soviet Union
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	65 kg (140 lb; 10.2 st)
Team information
Current team	Geox-TMC
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)
2000–2004 2005–2010 2011–	Banesto Rabobank Geox-TMC
Major wins
Tour de France Young rider Classification (2003) 1 Stage Vuelta a España Overall Classification (2005, 2007) Mountains Classification (2007) Combination Classification (2005, 2007) 4 Stages Giro d'Italia Overall Classification (2009) Points Classification(2009) 2 Stages Vuelta al País Vasco (2004) Vuelta a Murcia (2009)
Infobox last updated on May 26, 2009

Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (Russian: Денис Николаевич Меньшов, pronounced as Menshov), born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for Geox-TMC. He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007. Menchov also won the centenary Giro d'Italia in 2009, and finished third in the Tour de France in 2010.

Professional career

Banesto (2000–2004)

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 Aragón, a stage in Paris–Nice and stage five in the 2004 Vuelta a España, from Zaragoza to Morella.

Rabobank (2005–2010)

Menchov's contract ran out in September 2004 and he moved to the Dutch Rabobank team for two years. He became team captain following Levi Leipheimer's departure to Gerolsteiner. Menchov 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 fifteen 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. In the Vuelta he also won a stage, the mountains classification and the combination classification.

In 2008 Menchov concentrated on Tour de France and did not defend his Vuelta title.^[6] He ended fourth in the Tour. Third-placed Bernhard Kohl was disqualified for doping, however riders have not been elevated to fill Kohl's place. Also Menchov finished fifth in Giro prior.

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]

In the 2010 Tour de France, Menchov came in third.

Geox-TMC (2011–)

Later in 2010 Menchov transferred to Geox-TMC, which did not participate in the Tour of 2011. Menchov was replaced as leader of Rabobank by Robert Gesink. With Geox, Menchov finished 8th in the Giro of 2011. He is joint leader of the team with Carlos Sastre, who finished 30th in the Giro.

Palmares

1997

1st Volta a Lleida

2001

1st Overall Classification Tour de l'Avenir

2002

1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

2003

1st Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama

11th Overall Tour de France

1st Youth Classification

2004

1st Overall Classification Vuelta al País Vasco

1st Stage 4

1st Stage 5 Vuelta a España

1st Stage 6 Paris–Nice

1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Aragón

2005

1st Overall Classification Vuelta a España

1st Stage 1

1st Stage 9

1st Combination Classification

2006

5th Overall Tour de France

1st Stage 11

6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

1st Stage 4

2007

1st Overall Classification Vuelta a España

1st Stage 10

1st Mountains Classification

1st Combination Classification

2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya

1st Points classification

1st Stage 5

2008

4th Overall Tour de France

4th Overall Tour de Romandie

5th Overall Giro d'Italia

5th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León

6th Clásica de San Sebastián

2009

1st Overall Classification Giro d'Italia

1st Points Classification^[9]

1st Stage 5

1st Stage 12

1st Overall Classification Vuelta a Murcia

2010

2nd Overall Vuelta a Murcia

2nd Overall Tour de Romandie

3rd Overall Tour de France

2011

3rd Overall Vuelta a Murcia

5th Overall Vuelta a Espana

5th Overall Tour of Austria

8th Overall Giro d'Italia

Grand Tours overall classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	1	-	8
Tour	47	93	11	WD	85	5	WD	4	51	3	-
Vuelta	-	-	-	WD	1	WD	1	-	-	41	5

WD=Withdrew

References

1. ^ "Giro d'Italia feature". cyclingnews.com. May 19, 2009. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/giro09/?id=/features/2009/giro09_menchov_sastre. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 
2. ^ "2005 Tour de France final overall standings". cyclingnews.com. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2005/tour05/?id=results/tour0521#gc. 
3. ^ Hernan Alvarez (February 9, 2006). "Heras banned for two years". www.cyclingnews.com. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/feb06/feb09news2. Retrieved 2008-03-26. 
4. ^ "La Vuelta a España 2005 Overall Allround". www.lavuelta.com. February 9, 2006. http://www.lavuelta.com/05/ingles/resultados/gencom21.asp?e=21. 
5. ^ "Tour de France – Menchov quits as Rasmussen hits back". Eurosport. July 26, 2007. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/26072007/58/tour-de-france-menchov-quits-rasmussen-hits.html. Retrieved 2008-03-26. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Simon Baskett (February 19, 2008). "Menchov targets Tour rather than Vuelta defense". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSL1990754120080219. Retrieved 2008-03-26. 
7. ^ REUTERS May 31, 2009. Russian Clinches Italian Bike Race. New York, NY: New York Times
8. ^ Gallagher, Brendan (2009-05-31). "Denis Menchov wins Giro d'Italia". The Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/5417780/Denis-Menchov-wins-Giro-dItalia.html. Retrieved 2009-06-03. 
9. ^ Awarded after the disqualification of apparent winner Danilo Di Luca

External links

• Denis Menchov at Trap-Friis.dk
• Official website
• Best unofficial website

Persondata
Name	Menchov, Denis
Alternative names	Menchov, Denis Nikolayevich ; Меньшов, Денис ; Меньшов, Денис Николаевич ; Menschow, Denis Nikolajewitsch ; Mienszow, Denis ; Mensjov, Denis
Short description	Road bicycle racer
Date of birth	1978-01-25
Place of birth	Oryol, Russia
Date of death
Place of death