Alexandre Vinokourov sees his son retire from cycling at just 23 due to aftermath of horror crash

Vinokourov Junior started his career at UC Monaco, before moving to Vino - Astana Motors. From there, the step to Astana's development team was a logical one. Since 2022, he had been part of the training team there, together with his twin brother Nicolas, but when his brother made the step up to the WorldTour, Alexandre stayed behind.

Since then, his brother Nicolas has ridden the Vuelta a España twice, finishing eighth in the mountains classification this year. In the Tour of Langkawi, the 23-year-old rider finished fourth in the overall classification this Sunday. Alexandre Junior had the opportunity to perform twice for the elite team of XDS-Astana this year, in the Malaysian stage race and the AlUla Tour in January.

In March, he was hit by a car in Greece while competing in several races there. He broke his thighbone in the accident and has never fully recovered from that injury, both physically and mentally. “The Last Dance,” Vinokourov begins in his farewell message on X. “7 months since my crash, I raced, trained with fear and pain.”

That is why the youngster is now saying goodbye to cycling. “I’m blessed and proud to have helped the team achieve 4 wins and P4 in GC in my last race as a rider… Thanks to all the people who were there in this chapter and see you soon in the next one.”