Denis Menchov

Denis Nikolayevich Menshov, often romanized as Menchov, born on 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general classification rider, a climber and an accomplished time trialist. He started his career in 2000 with the Banesto team, won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001 and moved to the Dutch Rabobank team in 2005. In 2007 he won the Vuelta a España, in 2009 the centenary Giro d'Italia, and in 2010 he finished second in the Tour de France, the first Russian to do so, though he was later disqualified from that Tour and from the 2009 and 2012 editions owing to adverse biological passport findings. In 2005 he was awarded the Vuelta after Roberto Heras was disqualified for doping, but the title was given back to Heras in 2012.