Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov (RussianВячеслав Владимирович Екимов; born 4 February 1966) is a Russian former professionalracing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the title of Russian Cyclist of the Century in 2001.
Ekimov won three Olympic gold medals:[3] in the track team pursuit in Seoul (1988) for theUSSR, and in an upset, in the road time trial in Sydney (2000) forRussia. At the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens, Ekimov won the silver medal for Russia in the men's roadindividual time trial, losing to AmericanTyler Hamilton. Hamilton later admitted to doping and Ekimov, who had raced for many more years than Tyler with the infamous Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel partnership, 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 the2003 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 the2005 Tour de France due to injuries received in a training ride with Armstrong inTexas.[5] During the final stage of the2006 Tour de France, now racing for theDiscovery 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 withLucien Van Impe for the second most Tour finishes, behindJoop Zoetemelk andSylvain Chavanel.
In September 2006 he finished riding for Discovery, but stayed with the team as Assistant Directeur Sportif toJohan 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 joinTeam RadioShack as Directeur Sportif.[7]
In October 2012, he was announced as the general manager of the RussianTeam 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]
^Tyler 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.
Team pursuit,Olympic Games
OverallRegio-Tour
Individual pursuit,UCI Track World Championships
OverallVolta a la Comunitat Valenciana
OverallThree Days of De Panne
Road race, National Road Championships
Giro d'Italia
Tour de France
Vuelta a España
Media related toViatcheslav Ekimov at Wikimedia Commons
