George Hincapie
 Hincapie at the 2007 Tour of California. |
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | George Hincapie |
| Born | June 29, 1973 Queens, New York, USA |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Weight | 79 kg (170 lb; 12.4 st) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Classics specialist/ Climbing Domestique |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1994–1996 1997–2007 2008–2009 2010–2012 |
Motorola US Postal Team High Road BMC Racing Team |
| Major wins | |
|
|
|
Infobox last updated on |
|
George Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American retired road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1994 and 2012.[1] Hincapie is well known as a key domestique of Lance Armstrong, having been the only rider to assist Armstrong in all seven of his Tour de France victories. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contador in 2007 and for Cadel Evans in 2011, when both men won the Tour de France. He is one of only two riders in Tour de France history to have raced on nine Tour-winning teams.[2] Hincapie completed his 16th (but he was DQed in 3 of these) and final Tour in 2012, which ties Joop Zoetemelk's record. Hincapie has started a record 17 Tours, having only failed to finish his first one in 1996.[3]
On October 10, 2012, Hincapie released a statement on his website acknowledging the use of performance-enhancing drugs and confirming that he had been approached by US Federal Investigators and USADA with regard to his experiences with doping.[4] Later that day a statement was released confirming his acceptance of a six-month ban from September 1, 2012, ending on March 1, 2013, along with a stripping of all race results between May 31, 2004, and July 31, 2006.[5]
Early life
Hincapie was born in Queens, New York, USA. His father Ricardo, a Colombian, introduced him to cycling, and his first race training was in New York City's Central Park. In 2004, Hincapie, along with his brother Richard launched their own line of sportswear, called Hincapie Sports.[6] He is married to former runway model and Tour de France podium girl Melanie Simonneau,[7] and they have two children, daughter Julia Paris (born on November 3, 2004) and son Enzo (born on June 20, 2008). Hincapie resides in Greenville, South Carolina. He graduated from Farmingdale High School in 1991.
Cycling career
Hincapie has several important wins of his own, starting with Gent–Wevelgem in 2001 and Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne in 2005. Also in 2005, Hincapie took two stage wins at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and 2nd place at Paris–Roubaix. In 2005 he had his first stage win in the Tour de France where, on July 17, he finished seven seconds ahead of Óscar Pereiro to win Stage 15 from Lézat-sur-Lèze to Pla d'Adet. More recent victories include two stages at the Tour of California (2006), the overall and a stage at the Tour of Missouri (2007), and another stage win at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 2008. He is a three-time US Professional Road Race champion (1998, 2006, 2009).
Throughout his career Hincapie has targeted the cobbled classics of April, specifically the week that begins with the Tour of Flanders, continues mid-week with Gent–Wevelgem, and ends with Paris–Roubaix. He achieved his highest position on the podium with his 2001 victory in Gent–Wevelgem.
His many top 10 placings in these races include 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th (twice), 7th, and 10th in various Tour of Flanders; 3rd, 4th (three times), and 5th in Gent–Wevelgem, in addition to his victory; and 2nd, 4th (twice), 6th (twice), 8th, and 9th in Paris–Roubaix. While using Three Days of De Panne as a warm-up ride during the previous week, he has placed well in that race also, winning the overall in 2004 and placing third overall in 2002.
In 2005, Hincapie showed a talent for short individual time trials (ITTs), winning the prologue at the 2005 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, placing second three times and third once in prologues in 2006 (including at the Tour de France), and placing second in the short ITT at Three Days of De Panne. In the 2006 Paris-Roubaix, bad luck struck Hincapie in the cobbled sector of Mons-en-Pévèle, when the steerer tube of his Trek bicycle snapped, leaving him dangling with no handlebars and crashing heavily. He was near the lead group but had to abandon the race.[8] He later won the ITT at the Eneco Tour of Benelux in 2006 and placed fourth in two longer ITTs that year. He finished third in the prologue at the 2007 Tour de France and second in the prologue at the Volta a Catalunya in 2008.
Hincapie rode for Team Columbia in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, departing Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team shortly before it disbanded.[9] He is easily distinguished from the pack by his large size (1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)). His contract with the team expired after the 2009 season, and though there was talk of him joining Armstrong's new Team RadioShack, Hincapie signed with BMC Racing Team for the 2010 season.[10]
In 2012, he set a record by completing his 17th Tour of Flanders, surpassing Briek Schotte.[11] On June 11, Hincapie announced that he would retire at the end of the season, after 19 years in the professional peloton.[12] On June 30, Hincapie started a record 17th Tour de France. He was allowed to lead the race onto the Champs-Élysées as this was his final Tour de France.[13] In August, Hincapie announced that he had raced in his last event, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. In his own words: “It's been a long career for me, a good career and I'm proud of it. I'm sad to leave, but at the same time, I'm excited to spend more time with my family and start a new life.”[14] He also said that he didn't plan to terminate all his relations with cycling.[15]
Doping
On October 10, 2012 Hincapie announced on his website that he had used banned substances at times in his career. The statement reads in part:
"Because of my love for the sport, the contributions I feel I have made to it, and the amount the sport of cycling has given to me over the years, it is extremely difficult today to acknowledge that during a part of my career I used banned substances. Early in my professional career, it became clear to me that, given the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by cyclists at the top of the profession, it was not possible to compete at the highest level without them. I deeply regret that choice and sincerely apologize to my family, teammates and fans."—[16]
The statement came as the U.S. Anti-Doping agency announced plans to release documents related to doping accusations against Lance Armstrong, a former teammate of Hincapie.[17]
Palmarès
- 1994
- 2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
- 1st Stages 1 & 4
- 1st
Points Classification
- 4th Classic Haribo
- 1995
- 3rd Reading Classic
- 10th Philadelphia International Championship
- 1997
- 5th Reading Classic
- 1998
- 1st
National Road Race Championships - 1st Philadelphia International Championships
- 2nd Reading Classic
- 5th Lancaster Classic
- 1999
- 1st Points Competition, Tour de Luxembourg
- 1st Stage 6 PruTour
- 3rd Lancaster Classic
- 4th Ghent-Wevelgem
- 4th Paris–Roubaix
- 5th Vattenfall Cyclassics
- 9th Milan - San Remo
- 9th Philadelphia International Championship
- 2000
- 3rd Reading Classic
- 4th Trofeo Luis Puig
- 5th Philadelphia International Championship
- 6th Paris–Roubaix
- 7th Lancaster Classic
- 8th Olympic Road Race
- 2001
- 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- 1st San Francisco Grand Prix
- 2nd Lancaster Classic
- 3rd Overall Tour de Picardie
- 3rd Philadelphia International Championship
- 4th Paris–Roubaix
- 9th Milan - San Remo
- 2002
- 1st Stage 1 (TTT), Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
- 2nd Classic Haribo
- 3rd Gent–Wevelgem
- 3rd Overall Volta ao Algarve
- 4th Tour of Flanders
- 5th Vattenfall Cyclassics
- 5th Philadelphia International Championship
- 6th Paris–Roubaix
- 9th Lancaster Classic
- 2003
- 1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
- 7th Overall Tour of Belgium
- 2004
- 1st Overall
Three Days of De Panne - 4th Gent–Wevelgem
- 5th Overall Paris–Nice
- 8th Paris–Roubaix
- 10th Tour of Flanders
- 2004
1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France3rd San Francisco Grand Prix5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx20051st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne1st Stages 1 & 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré1st GP Ouest-France2nd Paris–Roubaix6th Brabantse Pijl7th Tour of Flanders13th Overall Tour de France1st Stages 4 & 15
- 2006
Held Maillot Jaune, Stages 1-2, Tour de France3rd Tour of Flanders4th Overall Tour of California1st Stages 2 & 5
- 2006
- 1st National Road Race Championships
- 2nd Overall Eneco Tour of Benelux
- 1st Stage 4 (ITT)
- 5th Gent–Wevelgem
- 8th Tirreno–Adriatico
- 9th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 2007
- 1st Overall Tour of Missouri
- 1st Stage 2
- 2nd National Road Race Championships
- 2008
- 1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 4th Overall Tour of Missouri
- 5th Tour of Flanders
- 9th Paris–Roubaix
- 9th Three Days of De Panne
- Tour of California
- 1st Stage 7
- 1st
Most Aggressive Rider
- 2009
- 1st, National Road Race Championships
- 8th E3 Harelbeke
- 2010
- 4th Gent–Wevelgem
- 6th Tour of Flanders
- 2011
- 2nd National Road Race Championships
- 5th Overall, USA Pro Cycling Challenge
- 1st Stage 2
- 6th Tour of Flanders
- 2012
- 40th Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge - LPR
Grand Tours overall classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vuelta |
110 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | WD | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 Giro |
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | WD | - | - | - | - | - |
 Tour |
- | WD | 104 | 53 | 78 | 65 | 71 | 59 | 47 | 24 | 35 | 17 | 59 | 56 | 38 |
WD = Withdrew; Voided results = struck through.
References
- ^ Wynn, Nigel (June 12, 2012). "Hincapie to retire after record-breaking 17th Tour de France". Cycling Weekly (IPC Media Limited). Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- ^ Dansie, Sam (2011-07-23). "Hincapie part of nine Tour de France victories". CyclingNews. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
- ^ Caley Fretz (30 June 2012). "George Hincapie gets a special bike for his ‘gentleman’s round’ in the 2012 Tour de France". Velo News (2012 Competitor Group, Inc.). Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ http://www.georgehincapie.com/news/Statement-from-George-Hincapie/. Retrieved 10 Oct 2012. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ a b http://d3epuodzu3wuis.cloudfront.net/2012-10-09+WB+to+Anders+re.+Hincapie+Sanction.pdf%7CGeorge Hincapie notice of sanction
- ^ Hincapie Sports Official website
- ^ "Beauté du Tour : Melanie Hincapie". Le Blog de l'Ardoisier. 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ "The mean machine takes first Roubaix win for CSC". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). 9 April 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ "George Hincapie: Heading to new pastures". Cyclingnews.com. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
- ^ VeloNews.com (2009-09-01). "Hincapie confirms to BMC with Ballan, Kroon, Burghardt". VeloNews. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ "bmc racing team finishes 3-4 at tour of flanders". BMC. 1 May 2012.
- ^ "Hincapie announces retirement". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). June 11, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
- ^ Gregor Brown (30 June 2012). "Hincapie makes history with 17th Tour start". Cycling Weekly (IPC Media). Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ "Triple USA national champion Hincapie brings a 19-year pro career to a close". Velo Nation (Velo Nation LLC). 27 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ Jason Blevins (27 August 2012). "George Hincapie ends 18-year cycling career at Pro Challenge in Denver". Denver Post (The Denver Post). Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ Hincapie, George. "STATEMENT FROM GEORGE HINCAPIE". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ Red, Christian (10 October 2012). "Lance Armstrong's 'best bro' George Hincapie is biggest figure yet to turn on disgraced cyclist". Retrieved 13 October 2012.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: George Hincapie |
- George Hincapie profile
- Official website
- Team Columbia
- Hincapie Sportswear
- Palmares at Cycling Base (French)
- Profile on BMC Cycling Team
- Cycling Shorts. Interview with George Hincapie on mentoring young BMC Riders
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bart Bowen |
USA National Road Race Champion 1998 |
Succeeded by Marty Jemison |
| Preceded by Chris Wherry |
USA National Road Race Champion 2006 |
Succeeded by Levi Leipheimer |
| Preceded by Tyler Hamilton |
USA National Road Race Champion 2009 |
Succeeded by Ben King |
