An interview with Alexandre Vinokourov, September 18, 2006

Image 1 of 6

Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana)(Image credit: Unipublic)

Winning the Vuelta

From there, though, things improved. Consecutive stage wins at Lugo and Alto de La Cobertoria on days eight and nine showed that he was clicking into a higher gear, spurred on no doubt by the presence of Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov at the race. And while Valverde continued to fight on, wearing the maillot oro for eight stages, it became clear towards the end that one rider's form was on the ascension while the other was starting to run out of steam.

"At the start of the Vuelta I wasn't here with a clear goal to win, but rather to see how things went and take it from there. I was still building form and the first day in the mountains went badly. I kept my morale, though, and everyone encouraged me, telling me that it wasn't finished yet. My form continued to improve. That day, I lost time to Alejandro. But it was another thing in Granada and that is where things turned around."

The day Vinokourov refers to was stage 17, the penultimate day in the mountains. Twenty four hours previously he had tried and failed to distance his big rival on the road to the top of Calar Alto, but it was a different matter the following day. Although the course profile suggested that little change in the general classification was possible, he attacked very strongly on the final climb, the first category ascent of Monachil, and then went again on the descent when Valverde finally managed to bridge across.

From there to the finish he joined forces with Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) and managed to eke out a considerable lead of 1'39 over the deeply disappointed Spaniard, who had forgotten to zip up his jersey on the descent. That was enough for the jersey to change hands, and while a margin of just nine seconds separated them that evening, Vino went on the offensive again on the road to the Sierra de la Pandera and scooped another 32 seconds.

The net result of those two days in the mountains was that the race looked to be his. Vinokourov's pedigree in the time trial showed that the final test was almost destined to go his way and so it proved, the Kazakhstani taking his third stage win on his 33rd birthday. It meant that Valverde would start the final stage 1'12 behind; with the last day traditionally a processional one the game was, to all extents and purposes, over.

As he said more than once at the Vuelta, winning the race made up for the disappointment he felt at the team's non-participation in the Tour de France. The implication of several riders in the Operación Puerto affair meant that they had too few riders to start the event; he had spent months preparing for the event and given that he himself was not connected to the investigations, Vinokourov found it a tough thing to take.

"The first ten or so days after the start of the Tour were very difficult," he answered. "When you spend time away from your family, working hard and doing training camps in the mountains, it is hard not to be able to take part in your big goal. But I went back home [after the start of the Tour] and had time with my family, spending a very nice time with them. That helped and my morale started to come back then.

Given that those two riders were eventually cleared, he was asked if he considered taking legal action against the Tour organisers. "This Vuelta is a sporting revenge, as I could demonstrate directly to Christian Prudhomme (general manager of the Tour) who was at the Pandera stage finish," he stated. "I believe that I can win the Tour at 33 years of age, like Lance Armstrong. But it is difficult to think about a legal revenge due to the code of ethics which is in place. I think there is nothing that can be done."

Given that he signed a contract with Manolo Saiz to race with him until 2008, there is a possibility that the Spaniard could cause complications if he is eventually cleared, unlikely as it seems. Vinokourov was asked if he was worried about this. "Manolo has my respect," he replied. "I believe that he is an intelligent person and knows that it was I who brought this sponsor to the team. I believe that it would be very complicated if he did not let us continue. I hope that he lets us do so, because it is very difficult to take part in the Tour with him if he is still here.

Vinokourov has won many of the biggest races in cycling and this Vuelta victory means that he has added a Grand Tour to his palmares. However there are two more big races that he is chasing. The first of these is the world road race championships, which will be held in Salzburg this coming Sunday. Back in 2000 Vino was second in the Olympic road race behind Jan Ullrich, and last year he was one of the main animators of the worlds in Madrid. Victories in races such as the Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic have marked him out as a proven winner on tough one-day courses. What does he think of his chances?

It should make for a gripping event. Last year's Tour saw many trademark attacks by Vino in the mountains, sending the pace sky high and setting the adrenaline coursing through the veins of anyone who was a fan of no holds barred, all-out racing. However as much as the sight of him surging off the front was a defining one of that Tour, so too was the dramatic implosions which often followed as he blew and slipped backwards.