Despite three of their riders battered and bruised, the guys from XDS-Astana Team are performing respectably in the Tour de France, yet to launch any serious attacks but keeping pace with all but the very best – those expected to populate the Top Ten placings come the end of the race.
With the most beautiful sporting event well underway (albeit with a long way to go), before the current crop of Kazakhstani cyclists (and their mainly European team mates) make any headlines of their own, this is one very opportune moment to revisit the career of the greatest of them all – Alexandr Vinokurov.
The current General Manager of XDS-Astana Team hails from the northern Kazakh city of Petropavl, born in the former Kazakh SSR almost two decades before it emerged as a country in its own right.
Vino’s early career was within the then Soviet Union, although a move to France in his early 20s was considered essential for the talented rider to reach his full potential, and his first professional manager, Vincent Lavenu, remarked at the time how the young Alexandr had been so committed to his sport from the age of 11.
His first spell on the professional circuit set him aside as a potential champion, not least as his first full year saw him win six races, including the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, a classic race which lists just behind the three main tours and the Olympics in terms of kudos.
His following years saw him tick even more boxes on the pro cycling circuit, but 2000 was also the year when he picked up his first Olympic medal, a silver, interestingly one of three Telekom riders to grace the podium that day in Sydney, as his team mates Jan Ullrich and Andreas Kloden joined him.
It is sadly ironic, in a sport which is all about highs and lows, that the Kazakhstani legend experienced them in his long career; from winning the Vuelta a Espana overall in 2006, the Olympic Gold medal in London in 2012, to losing his close friend Andrei Kivilev, who passed away after a heavy fall in the 2003 Paris-Nice.
Vino considered pulling out but rode on, winning the next stage and dedicating it to Kivilev, saying:
“I found the strength to continue the race, only for him, for his family, for his little boy. I’m satisfied today for myself and for them. I’m going to do everything to keep the jersey, and for that I found a double strength, myself and his strength as well. It’s fantastic, and I’m very happy. For sure it’s a victory for him, and I hope to keep the jersey until Nice.”
Make no mistake, these cyclists are a different breed altogether in terms of fitness, mental strength, and toughness, but when it comes to emotion, honour, and respect for fellow competitors, few can top them there either.
For this reason, Alexandr Vinokurov is likely to list his second Paris-Nice victory as his proudest moment, but will also be keen to include his overall victory in the 2006 Vuelta, his 3rd and 5th place finishes in the Tour de France, both coming during the era of Lance Armstrong’s dominance (whatever some may say about that). Add to that his Criterium du Dauphine win, one in the Tour de Suisse a few years later, and two Liège–Bastogne–Liège wins, and this is the career of one of the greats of the modern era, perhaps pedalling in the shadow of those better-known riders who were only marginally better, but got over the line when it mattered.
After the stunning breakaway with Colombian Rigobert Uran in London, 2012, and his second Olympic medal, this time the shiniest of all, Vino announced his retirement from professional cycling and took up a role with the Astana team. Their continued involvement in the grand tours of the sport in the light blue of the Astana brand has made them a treasured part of these mammoth events.
The bike that he rode to victory in London, the first of seven gold medals for the Kazakhstani team, was later sold at auction for $243,000, all the proceeds from its sale donated to the treatment of five children with serious diseases.
“The bicycle brought good luck to me and I can now support the young citizens of Kazakhstan who are having a difficult time, by selling this bicycle. I hope that some of them will become champions, not necessarily in sport, but in their own lives. They should be strong in spirit and fight to the end! And this way they will win”
And, according to Qazinform, the very jersey he wore that day has now been donated to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne in what is seen as a significant moment for sport in Kazakhstan, with several of the country’s dignitaries in attendance when it was handed over.
Although Vino announced his retirement in 2007 (later to make a stunning comeback), his career exceeds that which many serious and aspiring professionals can only dream of, and his ongoing contribution to the pride of his country, XDS-Astana Team, complete with its two Tour de France overall victories, can only be good for the future of not only Kazakhstani cycling, but the sport everywhere.
His son, Nicolas, now continues the Vino-4-Ever legacy, and sets off later today on the fifth stage of the 2026 Tour de France alongside his seven team mates, like father like son, battling all the way to the finish.
