# Viatcheslav Ekimov

Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov (Russian Вячеслав Владимирович Екимов; born 4 February 1966) is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the title of Russian Cyclist of the Century in 2001.

## Biography

Ekimov was born in Vyborg, and started training as a cyclist at age 12 with a bicycle school affiliated with the famous centre of Aleksandr Kuznetsov. He trained in Leningrad at Lokomotiv and later Armed Forces sports society during the Soviet era.
Ekimov won three Olympic gold medals: in the track team pursuit in Seoul (1988) for the USSR, and in an upset, in the road time trial in Sydney (2000) for Russia. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Ekimov won the silver medal for Russia in the men's road individual time trial, losing to American Tyler 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.
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 the 2003 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 the 2005 Tour de France due to injuries received in a training ride with Armstrong in Texas. During the final stage of the 2006 Tour de France, now racing for the Discovery 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 with Lucien Van Impe for the second most Tour finishes, behind Joop Zoetemelk and Sylvain Chavanel.
In September 2006 he finished riding for Discovery, but stayed with the team as Assistant Directeur Sportif to Johan Bruyneel. 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 join Team RadioShack as Directeur Sportif.
In October 2012, he was announced as the general manager of the Russian Team Katusha–Alpecin. 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. After the end of 2016 season Ekimov stepped down from the role.

## Major results
### 1988

    1st Team pursuit, Olympic Games
    1st Overall Regio-Tour
    1st Overall Vuelta al Táchira
       1st Prologue, Stages 7 & 8 (ITT)
    1st Overall Tour de Normandie
    2nd Overall Circuit Cycliste Sarthe

### 1989

    1st Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
       1st Stage 5b
    1st Stage 1 Tour de Trump
    2nd Overall Tour of Sweden
    2nd Overall Circuit Cycliste Sarthe
    3rd Overall Tour de Normandie
    3rd Overall Vuelta al Táchira
       1st Prologue & Stage 1

### 1990

    1st Individual pursuit, UCI Track World Championships
    1st Stage 2b (ITT) Critérium International
    1st Stage 5 Vuelta Asturias
    1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
    2nd GP Wielerrevue
    3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
       1st Stage 5 (ITT)
    4th Overall Nissan Classic
    5th Overall Tour de Trump
    8th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    9th Overall Tour du Vaucluse
       1st Stage 5
    9th Overall Tour de la Communauté Européenne

### 1991

    1st Points race, UCI Track World Championships
    1st Stage 20 Tour de France
    1st Stage 3 (ITT) Critérium International
    3rd Grand Prix de la Libération (TTT)
    4th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
    5th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
    5th Overall Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale
    7th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
    9th Overall Three Days of De Panne
    9th Overall Nissan Classic
    9th Milano–Torino
    9th Rund um den Henninger Turm
    10th Overall Euskal Bizikleta

### 1992

    1st Züri–Metzgete
    1st Druivenkoers-Overijse
    1st Stage 4 Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
    2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne
    3rd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
       1st Stage 6
    3rd Overall GP du Midi Libre
       1st Stage 6 (ITT)
    3rd Trofeo Melinda
    3rd GP Rik Van Steenbergen
    3rd Grand Prix des Nations
    3rd Baden-Baden (with Olaf Ludwig)
    4th La Flèche Wallonne
    4th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    6th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
    6th GP Gippingen
    6th Rund um den Henninger Turm
    9th Giro di Campania

### 1993

    1st Clásica de Almería
    1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
    2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
       1st Stage 2
    2nd Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem
    2nd Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde
    3rd Road race, National Road Championships
    4th Overall Vuelta Asturias
       1st Stage 5
    5th Overall Ronde van Nederland
    5th Japan Cup
    5th Rund um den Henninger Turm
    6th Overall Three Days of De Panne
    8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
    9th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
       1st Stage 2
    9th Grand Prix de Fourmies
    10th Giro di Lombardia

### 1994

    1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
       1st Stage 2
    1st Overall Tour DuPont
       1st Stages 5 (ITT) & 11 (ITT)
    1st Veenendaal–Veenendaal
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
    2nd Overall Kellogg's Tour
    2nd E3 Harelbeke
    2nd Leeds International Classic
    3rd Overall Paris–Nice
    4th Overall Ronde van Nederland
    5th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    5th Overall Three Days of De Panne

### 1995

    1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
    2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
       1st Stage 3b
    2nd Overall Tour DuPont
       1st Stage 11 (ITT)
    4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
    4th Paris–Roubaix
    7th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
    7th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    8th Overall Paris–Nice
    8th Tour of Flanders

### 1996

    1st Overall Three Days of De Panne
    3rd Overall Ronde van Nederland
    4th Tour of Flanders
    4th E3 Harelbeke
    5th Grand Prix des Nations
    5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
    6th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
       1st Stage 2
    7th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
    8th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
    8th Paris–Roubaix
    8th Japan Cup
    9th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships

### 1997

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Castilla y León
    2nd Paris–Camembert
    3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
       1st Stage 3
    4th Overall Paris–Nice
       1st Stage 7b (ITT)
    4th Overall Ronde van Nederland
    5th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
    5th GP du canton d'Argovie
    8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
       1st Stages 2 & 4 (ITT)
    9th Overall Tour de Romandie
    10th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    10th Tour of Flanders

### 1998

    1st Stage 6 PruTour
    2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
    2nd Trofeo Luis Puig
    3rd Overall Three Days of De Panne
    3rd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
    5th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
    7th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    7th Tour of Flanders
    7th Scheldeprijs
    9th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships

### 1999

    1st Stage 15 Vuelta a España
    1st Stage 5 (ITT) Tour de Suisse
    1st Stage 3 Gran Premio Internacional Telecom
    1st Stage 3 Vuelta al Táchira

### 2000

    1st Time trial, Olympic Games
    1st Overall Three Days of De Panne
       1st Stage 3b (ITT)
    1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Lance Armstrong)
    4th Overall Tour de Pologne
    10th Chrono des Herbiers

### 2001

    3rd Overall Three Days of De Panne
    3rd EnBW Grand Prix (with Víctor Hugo Peña)
    6th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
       1st Stage 5 (ITT)
    6th San Francisco Grand Prix
    6th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
    7th Overall Ronde van Nederland
    7th US Pro Championship
    8th Road race, National Road Championships
    10th Overall Volta ao Algarve

### 2002

    4th San Francisco Grand Prix
    5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
    6th Grand Prix des Nations

### 2003

    1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
       1st Stage 4 (ITT)
    1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
    3rd Paris–Roubaix
    3rd San Francisco Grand Prix
    5th Overall Three Days of De Panne
    6th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    6th Trofeo Laigueglia
    7th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
    8th Tour of Flanders

### 2004

    1st Time trial, Olympic Games
    1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
    2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
       1st Stage 4 (ITT)
    2nd Overall Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon
    5th Overall Tour de Georgia
    5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx

### 2005

    1st Stage 4 (ITT) Three Days of De Panne

### 2006

    2nd Eindhoven Team Time Trial

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 89 |
| Tour de France | 55 | 42 | 65 | 35 | 36 | 18 | 21 | 44 | 38 | — | 55 | 82 | 58 | 76 | 80 | — | 82 |
| / Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | 64 | DNF | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |