ALEXANDRE VINOKOUROV

EASTERN EUROPE’S FIXER

A two-year ban for blood doping, allegations of race fixing at Liège-Bastogne-Liège… The controversial Kazakhstani’s 15-year pro career was tarnished by cheating and mud-slinging aplenty, though none of it has served to weaken his influence in his homeland. Vinokourov’s career – peppered with big wins including four Tour stages and the 2002 Paris-Nice – hit a high point in 2012 with gold in the Olympic Road Race, a win celebrated by few outside of Kazakhstan. He’s now team manager at Astana, the team he’s been associated with since it was founded in 2007, but as he’s been tipped to enter national politics in the future, his ability to make things happen in his cash-rich home nation only looks likely to increase.