Vasil Kiryienka

Vasil Kiryienka
Vasili Vasilyevich Kiryienka (Łacinka: Vasil Vasilevič Kiryjenka; born 28 June 1981) is a Belarusian former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2020 for the OTC Doors , and squads. He currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team .
Career
Early years
Born in Rechytsa, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Kiryienka won his first national time trial championship in 2002. His early career focused mainly on the track, where he won the Points Race at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Later that season Kiryienka won Stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, a mountainous affair leading to Presolana, after spending the day on the attack and registering more than 6 hours and a half in the saddle. He attacked his six breakaway companions at the foot of the Monte Para climb and soloed to the finish for the win, by a margin of over four minutes.
Caisse d'Epargne (2009–2012)
Kiryienka moved to the Spanish squad for the 2009 season.
In 2010 he finished second in the tenth stage of the Tour de France after he was outsprinted at the line in Gap by Sérgio Paulinho after the pair's decisive attack with remaining.
On 23 May 2011, during the Giro d'Italia, Kiryienka's teammate Xabier Tondo was killed in a freak accident at home while preparing to train with teammates. He was reportedly crushed between his car and a garage door. Five days later, Kiryienka rode to victory in a solo effort on Stage 20, a mountain top finish at Sestriere, and he dedicated the stage victory to Tondó, pointing skyward as he crossed the finish line. The team had met to consider withdrawing from the race after Tondó's death, but instead the riders unanimously voted to ride on. Kiryienka commented that the squad at the Giro hoped to get a further stage win (as Francisco Ventoso's win had come before Tondó's death) to honor him, while other members of the team grieved with Tondó's family.
In September 2012, Kiryienka finished third in the individual time trial at the road world championships.
Team Sky (2013–2020)
Kiryienka left at the end of the 2012 season, and joined on an initial three-year contract from the 2013 season onwards.
In May 2015, Kiryienka won the individual time trial of the Giro d'Italia, which was long and relatively rolling. In June 2015, he won the individual time trial at the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. On 23 September 2015, Kiryienka won the individual time trial at the CI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia, United States.
Kiryienka had the honor to carry the flag of his native Belarus at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he competed in the men's individual time trial event; he finished in 17th place. In October, he competed in the same event at the World Championships in Doha, where he won the silver medal – giving him at least one medal of each colour for his career.
In January 2020, Kiryienka retired from the sport due to recurring "cardiac issues".
Major results
Road
1999
3rd Time trial, National Championships
2000
2nd Time trial, National Championships
2001
2nd Time trial, National Championships
2002
1st Time trial, National Championships
2004
National Championships
2nd Time trial
3rd Road race
6th Overall Tour of Turkey
2005
1st Time trial, National Championships
1st Coppa della Pace
1st Giro del Casentino
1st Coppa Comune Castelfranco di Sopra
1st Coppa Mobilio Ponsacco – Cronometro
1st Stage 3 Giro della Toscana Under-23
2006
1st Time trial, National Championships
2nd Overall Scandinavian Week
1st Stage 3
2nd Scandinavian Open
3rd Riga Grand Prix
4th Tallinn–Tartu GP
4th Szlakiem Walk Majora Hubala
5th Overall Five Rings of Moscow
6th Time trial, UCI World Championships
8th Overall Course de la Solidarité Olympique
1st Stage 6
2007
1st Stage 3 Ster Elektrotoer
1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Burgos
2nd Overall Étoile de Bessèges
2nd Eindhoven Team Time Trial
3rd Time trial, National Championships
7th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
8th Overall Tour of Austria
8th Tour du Haut Var
9th Time trial, UCI World Championships
9th Grand Prix de Fourmies
2008
1st Stage 19 Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda
2nd Time trial, National Championships
2nd Overall Ster Elektrotoer
2nd Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
7th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
2011
1st Overall Route du Sud
1st Stage 20 Giro d'Italia
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Points classification
9th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st Stage 2
2012
3rd Time trial, UCI World Championships
6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
2013
1st Stage 18 Vuelta a España
UCI World Championships
3rd Team time trial
4th Time trial
2014
1st Stage 1b (TTT) Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
3rd Overall Bayern Rundfahrt
4th Time trial, UCI World Championships
Combativity award Stage 11 Vuelta a España
2015
1st Time trial, UCI World Championships
1st Time trial, European Games
1st Time trial, National Championships
1st Chrono des Nations
1st Stage 14 (ITT) Giro d'Italia
2016
1st Chrono des Nations
2nd Time trial, UCI World Championships
2017
UCI World Championships
3rd Team time trial
5th Time trial
6th GP Miguel Induráin
2018
1st Time trial, National Championships
9th Time trial, UCI World Championships
2019
1st Time trial, European Games
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Track
2003
UCI World Cup Classics, Aguascalientes
1st Individual pursuit
3rd Team pursuit
UEC European Under-23 Championships
3rd Individual pursuit
3rd Team pursuit
2004
3rd Individual pursuit, UCI World Cup Classics, Aguascalientes
2005
1st Points race, UCI World Cup Classics, Manchester
2006
UCI World Cup Classics
1st Scratch, Sydney
2nd Points race, Moscow
3rd Points race, Sydney
3rd Points race, UCI World Championships
2008
1st Points race, UCI World Championships
References
External links
Vasil Kiryienka profile at Team Sky
Palmares at Cycling Base (French)
Belarusian male cyclists
1981 births
Living people
Belarusian Giro d'Italia stage winners
Belarusian Vuelta a España stage winners
Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists for Belarus
People from Rechytsa
UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men)
European Games medalists in cycling
European Games gold medalists for Belarus
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Belarusian track cyclists
Cyclists at the 2015 European Games
Cyclists at the 2019 European Games
Sportspeople from Gomel Region