Vladimir Karpets, Russian cyclist
Vladimir Alexandrovich Karpets (Russian: Владимир Александрович Карпец) (born 20 September 1980 in Leningrad) is a Russian road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTeam Movistar Team. 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 iBanesto.com.
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.