Maximiliano Richeze

Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Araquistain (born 7 March 1983) is an Argentine professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates.[4] Richeze won the silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games (Men's Team Pursuit). His brothers Roberto, Mauro and Adrián are also cyclists.

Maximiliano Richeze

Richeze at the 2016 Tour of Britain
Personal information
Full name	Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Araquistain
Nickname	Atomico[1]
Born	(1983-03-07) 7 March 1983 Bella Vista, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 ^1⁄2 in)[2]
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10 st 10 lb)[2]
Team information
Current team	UAE Team Emirates
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional teams
2006–2009	Ceramica Panaria–Navigare
2011–2012	D'Angelo & Antenucci–Nippo
2013–2015	Lampre–Merida
2016–2019	Etixx–Quick-Step[3]
2020–	UAE Team Emirates
Major wins
One-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2019)
Medal record Representing  Argentina Pan American Games 2019 Lima Men's road race 2015 Toronto Team Pursuit

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Richeze and the second or maternal family name is Araquistain.

Biography

Richeze was born in Bella Vista. In his first season as a professional racer, he obtained the second position in the last stage of the 2006 Giro d'Italia, finishing some centimetres behind Robert Förster. He is considered to be the Argentine cyclist to obtain the best result in any of the three main cycling tours (the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España), since naturalised Lucien Petit-Breton raced for France, Argentina-born Juan Antonio Flecha raced for Spain, and Alejandro Borrajo only achieved a third place, also at the Giro.

In the 2007 Giro d'Italia Richeze placed 3rd on Stage 3 and 2nd on Stage 18 and 21, all of which were won by Alessandro Petacchi. But after the disqualification of Petacchi in May 2008 for doping, Richeze was declared the winner of stages 18 and 21 of that Giro.

Among his other achievements are the first position of Stage 1 and other second positions in the 2006 Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, and the 2005 Trofeo Arvedi of the Circuito del Porto in Portugal. Also in 2005 he won the Panamerican under-23 Championship, and in 2003 he became the Argentine under-23 champion.

In October 2015, after spending 11 seasons riding professionally for Italian teams, Belgian squad Etixx–Quick-Step announced that Richeze would join them from 2016 on a two-year contract, with a role as a lead-out man for Marcel Kittel and Fernando Gaviria.[5] After four years without a victory he won the fourth stage at the 2016 Tour de Suisse and also won the points classification for his new team.

Doping

Before the start of the 2008 Giro d'Italia Richeze tested positive for a steroid named stanozolol which resulted in his expulsion from the race. Despite being initially cleared by the Argentine Cycling Federation he was banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for two years.[6]

Major results

2003

1st Kilo, National Track Championships

2nd Overall Clásica del Oeste-Doble Bragado

1st Stage 6

2004

Vuelta Ciclista Lider al Sur

1st Stages 2a & 4a

1st Stage 2 Clásica del Oeste-Doble Bragado

2005

1st Road race, Pan American Under-23 Road Championships

1st Circuito del Porto

Clásica del Oeste-Doble Bragado

1st Stages 1 & 6b

1st Stage 2 Giro del Veneto

1st Stage 9 Vuelta a San Juan

2nd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships

2nd Piccola Coppa Agostoni

7th Gran Premio della Liberazione

2006

1st Stage 1 Tour de Langkawi

2007

1st Stage 1 Tour de Luxembourg

1st Stage 2 Tour de Langkawi

1st Stage 4 Giro del Trentino

1st Stage 4 Vuelta a San Juan

4th Grand Prix de Rennes

5th Gran Premio Città di Misano – Adriatico

2008

1st Stage 2 Tour de San Luis

1st Stage 7 Tour of Turkey

3rd Trofeo Laigueglia

4th Giro di Toscana

6th Giro del Piemonte

7th Grand Prix de Rennes

9th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe

1st Stage 5

2011

Okolo Slovenska

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1, 6 & 7

4th Overall Tour de Kumano

1st Prologue

5th GP Kranj

6th Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi

2012

1st Road race, Pan American Road Championships

1st Overall Tour de Hokkaido

1st Points classification

1st Stages 2 & 3

Tour de Serbie

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1, 5 & 6

1st Stage 1 Tour of Japan

3rd Overall Tour de Korea

3rd Coppa Bernocchi

4th Overall Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria

5th Overall Tour de Kumano

1st Points classification

1st Stage 1

5th Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi

8th Overall Vuelta a Venezuela

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1, 7, 8 & 10

2013

Pan American Track Championships

1st Scratch race

1st Team pursuit

1st Prologue Vuelta a San Juan

2016

Tour de Suisse

1st Points classification

1st Stage 4

1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de San Luis

2nd Eschborn-Frankfurt – Rund um den Finanzplatz

3rd Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem

2017

Vuelta a San Juan

1st Stages 6 & 7

5th Paris–Tours

6th EuroEyes Cyclassics

8th Eschborn–Frankfurt – Rund um den Finanzplatz

2018

1st Stage 1 Presidential Tour of Turkey

1st Stage 4 Vuelta a San Juan

2nd Road race, Pan American Road Championships

2019

1st Road race, Pan American Games

1st Road race, National Road Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Giro d'Italia	138	92	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	148	—	—
Tour de France	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF	—	144	—	135	149
Vuelta a España	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	141	138	152	—	—	—	148

Legend

—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish

See also

• List of doping cases in cycling

References

1. "Maximiliano Richeze". Quick-Step Floors. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
2. "Maximiliano Richeze, Deceuninck - Quick-Step Cycling team". Retrieved 15 July 2019.
3. Torrego, José María (23 December 2018). "El Deceuninck Quick Step busca no sucumbir del cetro mundial del ciclismo en 2019" [The Deceuninck Quick Step seeks not to succumb from the cycling world title in 2019]. La Guía del Ciclismo (in Spanish). Digipress Ibérica SL. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
4. "UAE Team Emirates complete 2020 roster with re-signing of former world champion Rui Costa". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
5. "Etixx-QuickStep sign Richeze to lead out Kittel". cyclingnews.com. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
6. CQ Ranking

External links

• Maximiliano Richeze at ProCyclingStats
• Maximiliano Richeze at Cycling Archives