34 Facts About Evgeni Berzin

Evgeni Valentinovich Berzin is a Russian former road cyclist.

Evgeni Berzin finished second at the 1995 Giro d'Italia, but failed to live up to high expectations in the years after.

Evgeni Berzin won the Men's Amateur Individual Pursuit and the Team Amateur Pursuit at the 1990 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and gained silver in the Team Amateur Pursuit a year later.

In 1992, Evgeni Berzin wanted to switch to road racing in order to compete in the road race at the 1992 Olympics, but Kuznetsov refused, instead aiming to focus on the track events.

Evgeni Berzin subsequently left Russia and went to Italy with his girlfriend, Stella.

Evgeni Berzin rode the 1993 Tour of Britain, where he finished second on stage 4.

Evgeni Berzin finished the season ranked 379th in the UCI Road World Rankings.

Evgeni Berzin was competitive right from the outset of the new season.

Evgeni Berzin was in the top three at the Tour Mediterraneen, Trofeo Laigueglia, and Settimana Siciliana.

Evgeni Berzin won the time trial at the Criterium International, and finished third overall, as Furlan again won the race.

Evgeni Berzin accelerated away from the group and won the race.

Argentin was allowed to win, in what was his last season as a professional, and Evgeni Berzin finished third behind Furlan.

On stage 3 of the Giro del Trentino, Evgeni Berzin was ordered back from an attack on his team leader, Argentin, eventually finishing the race in second place behind him.

Evgeni Berzin entered the 1994 Giro d'Italia as co-leader next to Ugrumov, but soon established himself as the leading rider, finishing the first-day time trial ahead of favourite Miguel Indurain, second just to Armand de las Cuevas.

Evgeni Berzin was again victorious and he extended his advantage over Indurain to 3:39 minutes.

On stage 15, Evgeni Berzin attempted to follow an attack by Marco Pantani, but was dropped.

Evgeni Berzin then won the last time trial of the race on stage 18, ahead of Indurain.

Evgeni Berzin became the first Russian and first rider from a former Eastern bloc country to win a Grand Tour.

Evgeni Berzin's final winning margin over Pantani was 2:51 minutes.

Evgeni Berzin still demanded higher pay and came into conflict with his teammates, who accused him of not showing enough respect.

Evgeni Berzin would stay with the team for the remainder of his contract.

In 1995, Evgeni Berzin returned to the Giro d'Italia, with Rominger on the start line.

Just a few days after the Giro ended, Evgeni Berzin took victory at the Euskal Bizikleta.

Evgeni Berzin eventually retired from the race on stage 10, having lost 15 minutes to Indurain the day before and, according to Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, being "physically demolished and mentally broken".

Evgeni Berzin returned for the 1996 Giro d'Italia, where he won the time trial on stage 19, putting him into provisional third place overall, just 14 seconds behind leader Pavel Tonkov.

Evgeni Berzin won the time trial on stage 8 as well, this time ahead of Gianni Faresin and Armstrong.

Evgeni Berzin was the first Russian rider to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour.

Evgeni Berzin then won the time trial to Val-d'Isere the next day.

At the 1997 Giro d'Italia, Evgeni Berzin placed second to Tonkov at the difficult stage-three time trial to San Marino.

Evgeni Berzin faded later in the race and finished 20th overall, 49 minutes behind the winner, Ivan Gotti.

Evgeni Berzin rode the Tour de France again, finishing third in the prologue time trial in Rouen, but he later abandoned the race, due to a broken clavicle.

Evgeni Berzin left the team at the end of the year, with team manager Marc Madiot stating that "his good days were behind him, no matter what".

Evgeni Berzin was prevented from starting the 2000 Giro d'Italia, as he received a two-week ban, due to an elevated hematocrit level, indicating the use of erythropoietin, a product used for the purposes of doping.

Evgeni Berzin owns a car showroom in Oltrepo Pavese, where he lives, and a Fiat dealership near Milan.