Retired pro cyclist and current Astana Qazaqstan Team Manager Alexandr Vinokurov returned to racing at the 2023 UCI Asian Road Championships last weekend in Thailand, winning a gold medal in the amateur masters individual time trial.

Just a few months shy of his 50th birthday, Vinokurov (Astana Qazaqstan) stopped the clock at 20:06 on the 15 kilometers long flat route with an impressive average speed of 44.76 km/h. He not only won the 50+ amateur men’s competition by over two minutes, he also recorded the fastest time of all men over the age of 35.

As a competitor, Vinokurov’s palmarès include an Olympic gold medal, two World Championship bronze medals, four Vuelta a España stage victories and being kicked out of the 2007 Tour de France after returning a positive anti-doping test result. The test revealed his blood had double the amount of normal red blood cells for an elite cyclist, which was evidence of a homologous transfusion – blood doping. Subsequently he was found guilty of doping and banned for two years.

Vinokurov is not the first former pro cyclist with a doping background who has returned to stand on the winner’s podium at amateur races. In just the last year, Antonio “Pipo” Garnero, 39, of Brazil won multiple stages of Haute Route Alps, Raimondas Rumsas, 51, won gold at Italy’s Gran Fondo del Vento in May and Italian Patrick Facchini won Top Dolomites gran fondo two weeks ago.

Photo Credit: Twitter/Astana Qazaqstan Team

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