On Friday 4 August in Perth, Scotland former WorldTour pro, Olympic Champion, current Astana Qazaqstan Team General Manager and ex-doper Alexander “Vino” Vinokourov achieved his life-long dream, winning a UCI World Championship title and rainbow jersey.

As a pro rider, Vinokourov twice finished 3rd at the world championships before being suspended two years for doping, but this time around at the 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships he opted to race in the men’s 50-54 year-old Gran Fondo against 215 hobby cyclists.

With almost a 5 minute lead on the next group of aging 50+ riders, the world championship race came down to a three-up sprint between Raul Patino of Spain, Adrain Jach of Poland and Vinokourov of Kazakhstan. For Patino and Vinokourov, this was their first time racing in the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships. Jach, on the other hand, was a veteran of numerous gran fondo world championships, finishing 21st in 2022, 16th in 2021 and 13th in 2019. Maybe this would be his year?

In the end though, Vino made it look easy, powering across the finish line in WorldTour pro style with a final time of 4:05:22 at an average speed of 38.880 kph over 160 kilometers. Patino was next one full second back, with Jach rolling under the finish banner a distance 5 seconds behind Vino.

Complete UCI Gran Fondo World Championship results HERE.

Photo Credit: UCI World Cycling Championships Glasgow

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