About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 26. Chapters: Aleksandr Kirichenko, Alexander Khatuntsev, Alexander Serov (cyclist), Alexandr Kolobnev, Alexei Markov, Anton Shantyr, Denis Dmitriev, Denis Menchov, Dimitri Konyshev, Eduard Gritsun, Ekaterina Gnidenko, Elena Tchalykh, Evgenia Romanyuta, Evgeniy Pechenin, Evgeni Berzin, Evgeni Petrov (cyclist), Evgeny Kovalev, Irina Kalentieva, Ivan Kovalev, Larisa Pankova, Mikhail Ignatiev (cyclist), Natalia Boyarskaya, Nikolay Kuznetsov (cyclist), Nikolay Trusov, Oksana Grishina (cyclist), Olga Slyusareva, Olga Zabelinskaya, Pavel Tonkov, Piotr Ugrumov, Sergei Borisov (cyclist), Sergei Ivanov (cyclist), Sergey Klimov (cyclist), Sergey Kucherov, Svetlana Bubnenkova, Svetlana Grankovskaya, Tamilla Abassova, Tatiana Antoshina, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Vladimir Efimkin, Vladimir Isaichev, Vladimir Karpets, Yuri Trofimov, Zulfiya Zabirova. Excerpt: Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (Russian: , pronounced as Menshov), born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for Team Katusha. He is a general classification rider, a climber, and a very good time trialist. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a Espana, 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. Menchov started his professional career in 2000 with the Banesto team of Jose 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 Dauphine Libere. 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 Pais Vasco, a stage in Vuelta a Aragon, a stage in Paris-Nice and stage five in the 2004 Vuelta a Espana, from Zaragoza to Morella. 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. 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, 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 - 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 3
