Vladimir Karpets

Vladimir Alexandrovich Karpets (Владимир Александрович Карпец) (born 20 September 1980 in Leningrad) is a Russian road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTeam. Karpets is most notable for winning the white jersey for best young rider in the 2004 Tour de France and his victories in the overall classifications of the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour de Suisse, both in 2007. Karpets is also a two-time Olympian.

Born in Leningrad, Karpets turned to cycling and, like fellow Russian Denis Menchov before him, moved to Spain where he joined.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Karpets competed on the track in the men's team pursuit where Russia got eliminated in the quarter-finals by Great Britain and took eighth. He also participated in the men's individual pursuit competition, finishing 11th. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he competed in the men's road race, helping his fellow countryman Alexandr Kolobnev to a place of tenth.

In the 2004 Tour de France, he used his strong time trialing abilities to defeat Thomas Voeckler in the youth classification on the penultimate stage. In the 2005 season, he was not at the same level in the Tour de France, but nevertheless managed a top ten placing in the Giro d'Italia. In 2007 he won stage 1 at Vuelta a Castilla y León and took the overall victory at the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour de Suisse.

Major results

 * 2001
 * 8th Overall Tour de Pologne
 * 10th Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 10th Overall Volta ao Alentejo


 * 2002
 * 2nd Overall Troféu Joaquim Agostinho
 * 2nd Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
 * 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 3rd Overall Volta ao Alentejo
 * 4th Subida al Naranco
 * 8th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León


 * 2003
 * 6th Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
 * 8th Overall Vuelta a Aragón
 * 9th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Evgeni Petrov
 * Tour de France
 * Held Jersey white.svg after Stages 4–6


 * 2004
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification Tour de France
 * 2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 1st Stage 1 (TTT)
 * 7th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
 * 8th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
 * 9th GP Miguel Induráin


 * 2005
 * 7th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * Tour de France
 * Held Jersey white.svg after Stages 8 & 9


 * 2006
 * 2nd Overall Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas
 * 5th Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
 * 8th Overall Vuelta a España
 * 8th Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 9th Overall Tour de Suisse


 * 2007
 * 1st MaillotVolta.png Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 1st Stage 1 (TTT)
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 1 (ITT) Vuelta a Castilla y León
 * 2nd Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 5th Overall Volta ao Alentejo
 * 1st Stage 3b (ITT)
 * 7th Overall Vuelta a España
 * 10th Overall Vuelta a Murcia


 * 2008
 * 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
 * National Road Championships
 * 3rd Time trial
 * 8th Road race


 * 2009
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 5th Overall Tour de Suisse


 * 2010
 * 1st Stage 3 (TTT) Vuelta a Burgos
 * 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 6th Time trial, National Road Championships


 * 2011
 * 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships