Alexandr Kolobnev

Alexandr Vasilievich Kolobnev (Александр Васильевич Колобнев; born 4 May 1981) is a Russian former professional road bicycle racer. His major victories include winning the 2007 Monte Paschi Eroica, a stage of the 2007 Paris–Nice and he is a two-time winner of the Russian National Road Race Championships. In 2011, he was provisionally suspended after testing positive for a potential drug masking agent. He was cleared of intentional doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in February 2012, and returned to in March 2012.

Career
Born in Vyksa, Russian SFSR, Kolobnev spent his neo-pro year in 2002 with. His second season saw him sign with Domina Vacanze–Elitron. There, he took his first victory in Stage 2 of the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali. He stayed with Domina Vacanze through the 2004 season and signed with UCI ProTeam for 2005. With Rabobank he managed to capture Stage 1 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in 2006.

In 2007 he transferred to. He won the third stage of Paris–Nice, became the inaugural winner of the Monte Paschi Eroica, now known as Strade Bianche, and finished second at the UCI Road World Championships. Kolobnev finished fourth in the road race at the 2008 Olympic Games. Second-place finisher Davide Rebellin later tested positive for Continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA), causing the IOC to strip him of his silver medal. Kolobnev was promoted to third in the race's standings by the UCI. However, he was not awarded the bronze medal until 2011.

Exonerated doping test
In the 2011 Tour de France he tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, a masking agent that can hide the presence of performance-enhancing drugs. He was subsequently pulled from the tour by his team, and his results for that stage were annulled. Despite his B sample also testing positive he only received a fine from the Russian cycling federation. However this was later appealed by the UCI to CAS, although he was subsequently cleared of any charges on 29 February 2012. Kolobnev rejoined in March 2012.

Acquitted on case 2010 Liège–Bastogne–Liège
In 2012, the Union Cycliste Internationale initiated an investigation of Kolobnev and the Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov over allegations brought by the Swiss news magazine L'lllustre and Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. They accused Vinokourov of cutting a deal with Kolobnev in 2010 to aid Vinokourov in winning Liège–Bastogne–Liège, alleging €150,000 exchanged hands. On 12 September 2019, prosecutors requested a six-month jail sentence for Kolobnev and Vinokourov, with an additional fine of €50,000 for Kolobnev, as well as €150,000 to be confiscated from his bank account. Kolobnev and Vinokourov were cleared on 5 November 2019, with the judge citing a "lack of concrete evidence" for the court's decision.

Personal life
He lives in Dénia, Spain, with his wife Daria and two sons and one daughter, David, Alexander and Aprelia. He opened a hotel in Dénia which had several altitude simulation rooms, a permitted method to increase athletic performance.

Major results

 * 1999
 * 1st Overall Giro della Lunigiana


 * 2001
 * 1st Gran Premio di Poggiana
 * 4th Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
 * 4th Gran Premio Industrie del Marmo


 * 2002
 * 9th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano


 * 2003 (1 pro win)
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 2nd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 4th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 4th Coppa Sabatini
 * 5th La Flèche Wallonne
 * 6th Trofeo Città di Castelfidardo


 * 2004 (1)
 * 1st MaillotRusia.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification, Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 2nd Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie
 * 7th Overall Brixia Tour
 * 8th Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 8th Trofeo Matteotti
 * 10th Road race, Olympic Games


 * 2005
 * 2nd Overall Niedersachsen Rundfahrt
 * 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 8th Overall Danmark Rundt


 * 2006 (1)
 * 4th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 5th Overall Tour de Pologne
 * 7th Overall Sachsen Tour
 * 9th Rund um den Henninger Turm


 * 2007 (2)
 * 1st Monte Paschi Eroica
 * 1st Stage 3 Paris–Nice
 * 1st Stage 2 (TTT) Deutschland Tour
 * 2nd Silver medal uci.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 5th Overall Tour de Wallonie
 * 9th Giro dell'Emilia


 * 2008
 * 2nd Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 3rd Bronze medal olympic.svg Road race, Olympic Games
 * 3rd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 5th Klasika Primavera
 * 5th Coppa Sabatini
 * 6th Overall Tour de Wallonie


 * 2009
 * 2nd Silver medal uci.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 2nd GP Miguel Induráin
 * 3rd Overall Tour de Wallonie
 * 3rd Giro di Lombardia
 * 4th Overall Tour of Ireland
 * 6th Amstel Gold Race
 * 7th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 9th Overall Tour of Slovenia
 * 9th Clásica de Almería
 * 9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège


 * 2010 (1)
 * 1st MaillotRusia.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 3rd GP Miguel Induráin
 * 4th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships


 * 2011
 * 2nd GP Miguel Induráin
 * 5th Road race, National Road Championships
 * 5th Amstel Gold Race


 * 2012
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 3rd Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
 * 4th Overall Tour de Pologne
 * 5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
 * 9th Trofeo Melinda


 * 2013 (1)
 * 3rd Overall Tour de Wallonie
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 3rd Tre Valli Varesine
 * 7th Strade Bianche
 * 9th Coppa Ugo Agostoni


 * 2014
 * 7th GP Miguel Induráin
 * 10th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton


 * 2016
 * 1st Jersey blue.svg Mountains classification, Volta ao Algarve
 * 10th Overall Giro di Toscana