Viatcheslav Ekimov

Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov (Russian Вячеслав Владимирович Екимов; born 4 February 1966 in Vyborg), nicknamed Eki, is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the title of Russian Cyclist of the Century in 2001.

Viatcheslav Ekimov
Ekimov in the prologue of the 2006 Tour of California.
Personal information
Full nameViatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov
NicknameEki
Born (1966-02-04) 4 February 1966
Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight69 kg (152 lb; 10 st 12 lb)
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Team manager
Rider typeTime-trialist
Professional teams
1990–1992Panasonic
1993Novemail
1994WordPerfect
1995Novell
1996Rabobank
1997–1998U.S. Postal Service
1999Amica Chip
2000–2006U.S. Postal Service
Managerial teams
2009–2011Team RadioShack
2012–2016Team Katusha
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
1 individual stage (1991)
2 TTT stages (2003, 2004)
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (1999)

Stage races

Ronde van Nederland (2003)
Three Days of De Panne (1996, 2000)

One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (1997)
Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (2000)
Züri-Metzgete (1992)

Biography

Ekimov started training as a cyclist at age 12 with a bicycle school affiliated with the famous centre of Aleksandr Kuznetsov. He trained in Leningrad at Lokomotiv and later Armed Forces sports society during the Soviet era.

Ekimov won three Olympic gold medals:[3] in the track team pursuit in Seoul (1988) for the USSR, and in an upset, in the road time trial in Sydney (2000) for Russia. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Ekimov won the silver medal for Russia in the men's road individual time trial, losing to American Tyler Hamilton. Hamilton was later stripped of his medal for doping and Ekimov was promoted to gold.[4]

Ekimov joined the USPS team in 1997 as its first key international signing, briefly retiring in 2001 before rejoining the team the following year. In the 2003 Tour de France Ekimov placed 10th in the prologue. He was a key force in the winning team time trial effort in stage four and was important to Lance Armstrong's fifth Tour victory both on the flats and in the mountains. He missed the 2005 Tour de France due to injuries received in a training ride with Armstrong in Texas.[5] During the final stage of the 2006 Tour de France, now racing for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, he announced that the 2006 Tour would be his last. He was honored by the peloton on the final stage, who allowed him to lead them over the line on the first of the eight laps of the Champs-Élysées. Ekimov started and finished 15 Tours de France, tying him with Lucien Van Impe for the second most Tour finishes, behind Joop Zoetemelk and Sylvain Chavanel.

In September 2006 he finished riding for Discovery, but stayed with the team as Assistant Directeur Sportif to Johan Bruyneel.[6] He helped guide the Discovery riders during the U.S. Pro Cycling Championships in 2006 as well as the Tour of California and the Tour de Georgia.

On 9 September 2009, it was announced he would join Team RadioShack as Directeur Sportif.[7]

In October 2012, he was announced as the general manager of the Russian Team Katusha–Alpecin.[8] The UCI, in a letter written to Katusha Team, denied them entrance into the 2013 World Tour. Among the many ethical violations the UCI cited, the appointment of Ekimov was among them for reasons unspecified.[9] After the end of 2016 season Ekimov stepped down from the role.[10]

Major results
1988
1st Team pursuit, Olympic Games
1st Overall Regio-Tour
1st Overall Vuelta al Táchira
1st Overall Tour de Normandie
1989
1st Circuit Franco-Belge
1990
1st Individual pursuit, UCI Track World Championships
1991
1st Points race, UCI Track World Championships
1st Stage 20 Tour de France
1st Stage 3 Critérium International
1992
1st Züri-Metzgete
3rd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Stage 5
1993
1st Clásica de Almería
1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
1994
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Communidad Valenciana
1st Stage 2
1st Overall Tour DuPont
1st Veenendaal–Veenendaal
1995
1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
2nd Overall Tour DuPont
4th Paris–Roubaix
1996
1st Overall Three Days of De Panne
1997
1st Road race, National Road Championships
Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 2 & 4
1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice
1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Castilla y León
1998
1st Stage 6 Pru Tour
2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
1999
1st Stage 15 Vuelta a España
1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
2000
1st Time trial, Olympic Games
1st Overall Three Days of De Panne
1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
2001
1st Stage 5 Vuelta Ciclista a la Communidad Valenciana
2003
1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
1st Stage 4 (ITT)
1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
3rd Paris–Roubaix
2004
1st Time trial, Olympic Games
1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
1st Stage 4
2nd Overall Tour de Languedoc-Roussillon
5th Overall Tour de Georgia
5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
2005
1st Stage 4 (ITT) Three Days of De Panne
gollark: We had 1/8 in favour is all.
gollark: I don't think so.
gollark: I do MANY valuable staff things, ubq
gollark: Oh, the sun is nice, I went there for my holiday last year.
gollark: If you fire me, I *will* initiate JUMPED ROUNDABOUTS contingencies.

References
  1. Cycling - Road Time Trial results, Athens 2004 - Olympics.org
  2. Hamilton, the winner of the golden medal at the time trial at the 2004 Summer Olympics, confessed doping use and was stripped of his gold medal, Ekimov who finished in second position, has been awarded the gold.
  3. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Viatcheslav Ekimov Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  4. "Tyler Hamilton stripped of Athens Olympics gold after doping admission". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  5. Ekimov blow hits Armstrong's team
  6. Discovery Channel axe 11 riders
  7. "Ekimov to direct Armstrong's RadioShack in 2010". Cyclingnews. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  8. "Confirmed: Ekimov new manager of Katusha Team". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  9. "UCI cites 'ethical reasons' for Katusha WorldTour snub". VeloNews.com. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  10. "Ekimov steps down as Katusha general manager". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 13 April 2020.

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