Denis Menchov
Menchov at the 2011 Tour de Romandie
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Denis Nikolayevich Menchov |
| Nickname | The Silent Assassin The Pope Denny |
| Born |
25 January 1978 Oryol, Soviet Union |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb; 10.2 st) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2000–2004 | Banesto |
| 2005–2010 | Rabobank |
| 2011 | Geox–TMC |
| 2012–2013 | Team Katusha |
| Major wins | |
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Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (Russian: Денис Николаевич Меньшов MEN-shov; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general classification rider, a climber, and a very good time trialist. 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 second in the Tour de France in 2010 becoming the first Russian to do so. He was later disqualified from this Tour de France, along with the 2009 and 2012 editions, due to adverse biological passport findings.
Born in Oryol, 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 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 Tour of the Basque Country, a stage in Vuelta a Aragón, a stage in Paris–Nice and stage five in the 2004 Vuelta a España, from Zaragoza to Morella.
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