Ukraine
4 Jan 1980
1.72m
64kg
2002
Landbouwcredit-Colnago (2002-2004)
An exciting young talent in his first year with the Discovery Channel team, Popovych’s unlimited potential will make him a team leader in the not-so-distant future. Popo put aside his Tour of Italy aspirations after three straight years of continued improvement at the Giro to race and train exclusively for the Tour de France. This focus delivered a key contribution to Lance Armstrong´s seventh and final Tour victory and earned him the white jersey as best young rider and a top 12 overall finish. Coupled with a victory at the difficult Tour of Catalunya and a strong showing at the Dauphiné Libéré, and it´s clear the former U23 World Champion has found a home under the tutelage of the team´s sports manager Johan Bruyneel.
Popo made his 2005 season debut at the frigid Paris-Nice and, while it was clear he was far from his best, he still managed a third in the weather-shortened second stage as well as 10th in the bumpy sixth stage to Cannes for a top 30 overall finish. At Catalunya, following the team´s second place effort in the opening team time trial stage, Popo moved from eigth overall to first after the difficult fourth stage to the Pal ski station in Andorra. The quiet Ukrainian finished in the same time as stage winner Leonardo Piepoli after nearly six and a half hours in the saddle. Popo then increased his overall lead by nine seconds the next day in the tough mountain time trial to Arcalis, placing fifth in the stage. He maintained his 20-second advantage over Piepoli in the next two stages to earn the victory. At the Dauphiné, Popo rode a consistent race to finish 22nd, escaping on the final stage when he and Hincapie escaped from the pack and rode together for nearly 100kms to reach the line together in Sallanches. At the Tour de France, Popovych was instrumental in Armstrong´s victory, recovering from a high speed crash on the stage to Courchevel to play a key role in Armstrong launching his attack to retake the yellow jersey for good. Popo gained the Tour´s white jersey following with a final winning margin of over nine minutes.
One week after the Tour, he joined Paolo Savoldelli to finish fourth at the Luk Challenge.
Prior to his season, the 26-year-old turned in three stellar efforts at the Giro, finishing third in 2003 and fifth in 2004. In his Tour of Italy debut in 2002, his first pro season, Popovych finished a respectable 12th. Prior to joining the professional ranks, he put together two seasons in the amateur ranks that resulted in over 35 victories, including Paris-Roubaix, the Giro Regioni, twice in the Giro del Val d’Aosta and his World championship in Portugal in 2001 - a win that made up for his near miss at the 2000 Worlds when he finished second to Russia´s Evgeni Petrov.
In 2002, Popovych turned pro and raced for the Belgian-based Landbouwkredit-Colnago team. He won two races - the second day of the Trophy Porec in Croatia and the GP de Geneva - and had solid performances at the Tour de la Région Wallonne (sixth overall and best young rider) and the Tour de l’Avenir (ninth). Vowing to learn from his previous mistakes, Popo began the 2003 Giro cautiously and moved into eighth after a solid stage seven to Terminillo. Solid efforts in the mountains and the stage 15 time trial to Bolzano put Popo in third overall with six stages remaining. Two more solid rides in the mountains confirmed Popovych´s place on the Giro podium at the tender age of 23. In 2004, Popo wore the Maglia Rosa for the first time before settling for sixth overall.
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1st, Young Rider, Tour de France
12th, GC, Tour de France
12th, stage 11, Tour de France
2nd, stage 7, Dauphiné Libéré
1st, GC, Tour of Catalunya
5th, stage 5, Tour of Catalunya
2nd, stage 4, Tour of Catalunya
4th, stage 7, Paris-Nice
10th, stage 6, Paris-Nice
16th, stage 5, Paris-Nice
45th, stage 3, Paris-Nice
3rd, stage 2, Paris-Nice
1st, Trophee Giacotelli
5th overall, Tour of Italy
8th overall, Regio Tour
10th, Firenze-Pistoia
14th, Flèche Wallonne
14th, Giro di Romagna
16th, Classique des Alpes |
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