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Russian cyclist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dimitri Konyshev (Russian: Дмитрий Борисович Конышев; born 18 February 1966)[2] is a Russian former road bicycle racer.[3] Over his 17 year professional cycling career, Konyshev won nine Grand Tour stages with at least one stage win in all three Grand Tours. He won 4 apiece in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, and he also won a single stage in the Vuelta a Espana. Konyshev was the first Soviet and first Russian to win a medal in the Men's Road race at the UCI Road World Championships. He won a Silver medal in 1989 behind Greg LeMond and a Bronze medal in 1992 behind Gianni Bugno and Laurent Jalabert.
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On his day, Konyshev could win from an attack or a sprint finish. He was the first rider from the Soviet Union and also the first Russian to win a stage at the Giro d'Italia. He never won a Cycling monument but was placed in the top 10 on four occasions, three of which were in Giro di Lombardia. In the 2000 Giro d'Italia he won both the Points classification and Combativity classification. In the 1997 edition of the race, he won one stage and the Intergiro classification.
Following his retirement from racing, he became a sports director with Tinkoff Credit Systems. He moved to UCI WorldTeam Team Katusha in 2009 where he was an assistant sports director for 11 seasons before the team folded in 2019. Gazprom–RusVelo employed Konyshev from 2020 till mid 2022, when they lost their UCI license due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4]
Konyshev's son Alexander Konychev is also a professional cyclist, although he represents Italy.[5]
Konyshev started cycling at the age of 14, where his father was the coach of the local team.[6]
Konyshev got the first victory in his career, stage 10 of the 1986 edition of the Coors Classic.[7] He beat Greg Lemond and Phil Anderson in the sprint.[8]
1987 brought new races to the Soviet's calendar with many victories including six stage race stages, two overall and two at one-day events. His season began in January with the Gran Premio Palio del Recioto where he won with his teammates Vasily Zhdanov and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov .[9] It was then onto his second Italian race the GP Liberazione which he also won although this time he out-sprinted West-German Bernd Gröne finishing three seconds ahead of the peloton.[10] Heading back to the USSR Konychev and his team raced the Tour of Sochi, Konychev finished fifth overall but did win stage 6. The month of May brought more good results for Konychev with three stage wins plus the overall at the Giro delle Regioni. Followed by eighth overall at the Course de la Paix finishing over 5 minutes down on Uwe Ampler.[11] Keeping his good form he went to Austria for the Österreich-Rundfahrt where he did not finish below ninth position in any of the nine stages. With a Stage win in stage 3, he won the overall by 1' 25" to Austrian Helmut Wechselberger.[12] Finishing a great season Konyshev headed to France to race the Tour de l'Avenir. Once again keeping consistent he only finished outside of the top 10 places in five stages of the twelve stage race. He won stage 7 a mountain stage finishing in Strasbourg from an early breakaway. He went on to win the Points classification and finish twenty-fourth overall.[13][14]
1988 started with the Tour of Sochi where Konyshev improved his fifth place from last year to third overall. February brought the Vuelta a Cuba where Konyshev won the red jersey for the points classification and two stages. He won two stages at the Giro delle Regioni, a race he won the overall at in 1987. The consistency continued with top 10 placements in most stages in the Course de la Paix finishing eleventh overall just over two minutes down on Uwe Ampler.[15] Konyshev's won the amateur version of the Giro d'Italia the Giro Ciclistico d'Italia.[16] He also took three stage victories.
With Alfa Lum–STM creating a gateway for cyclists of the Soviet Union to become professional the race calendar for Konyshev was expanded greatly.[17] The 1989 season started in Europe with the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, the first stage was a sprint stage where Konyshev finished in third behind seasoned professionals Stefano Allocchio and Sean Kelly.[18]
The first major race of the season was the Tirreno–Adriatico where he managed three top-10 places in bunch sprints.[19] It was then onto the Giro del Trentino where he finished 17th overall at the three-stage race. At the Giro di Toscana Konyshev finished second behind current world champion Maurizio Fondriest and beating two-time Giro di Lombardia winner Gianbattista Baronchelli in an eight-man sprint for the line.[20] The next race on the calendar for Konyshev was the Giro d'Italia, a Grand Tour. 1989 was the first year that a soviet would ride a Grand tour as previously all soviets had been prevented from riding professionally.[21] Stage 5 was the first stage where Konyshev showed his prowess by sprinting to fifth in stage 5 followed by tenth in stage 6. In stage 10 he beat eventual winner Laurent Fignon in the bunch sprint to claim 6th. His best result of the Giro came during Stage 9 which finished in Gubbio at the top of a mountain. Konyshev ended second behind Bjarne Riis in the three-man sprint for the line.[22] Konchev's first win of the season came in August at the Coppa Ugo Agostoni.[23]
Later in August he competed in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships he can be seen in a rather famous photo of cycling history showing the agony of defeat in 2nd place behind Greg Lemond's display of the intensity of victory.[24] It was then onto Giro dell'Emilia where Konyshev won a 10-man reduced bunch sprint to take his second victory of the year. His 1989 season ended with the Firenze–Pistoia an ITT where Konyshev finished 24th over 5 minutes down on winner Tony Rominger.
Konyshev rode for Alfa Lum for a second season. His season started with the Dwars door België where he finished in the second bunch and sprinted to 10th place.[25] It was then off to Gent–Wevelgem where once again Konyshev finished in the second bunch but this time he sprinted to 8th. After the cobbled classics it was off to Italy to prepare for the Giro d'Italia the first preparation race was the Giro del Trentino where he sprinted to 3rd place in Stage 1. He fared better at the Giro di Toscana where he sprinted to ninth with the third bunch of cyclists to cross the line.
His second Grand Tour was once again the Giro d'Italia. After the break-away got away in Stage 6 Konyshev was in the chasing bunch and managed to sprint to 7th seven seconds down.[26] The next chance at glory came during Stage 9 with race leader Gianni Bugno missing out on the decisive move both Konyshev and Vladimir Poulnikov managed to get away on the final climb where Poulnikov then attacked to go solo. Konyshev won the sprint of the remaining riders coming in second place.[27] Stage 14 was the next chance Konyshev of taking a stage. With 20 km to go there were 16 riders left then 2 attacked and got a gap. The rest of the group fought hard to finish 13 seconds down where Konyshev came 6th.[28] Stage 16 was a mountain stage finishing up Pordoi Pass. Gianni Bugno and Charly Mottet got away up the hill the chasing group slowly whittled away with Konyshev dropping and finishing in 6th.[29] The last stage where Konyshev attained a top-10 was Stage 17 where in the bunch sprint he finished 8th. Overall Konyshev came 30th out of 163 finishers.[30][31]
Following on from the Giro, Konyshev headed back to the Soviet Union to race the national championships. He won the race beating teammates Piotr Ugrumov and Vladimir Pulnikov in a sprint.[32] Later in June the GP Industria & Artigianato was held. With a punchy finish, Konyshev attacked multiple times to drop the other riders and win by 5 seconds to Massimo Ghirotto.[33] 10 days later he began his first Tour de France.[34] Konyshev would become the first ever rider from the Soviet Union to win a stage in the Tour de France by winning Stage 17. Konyshev made it into the break of the day. With Greg Lemond puncturing and the peloton waiting for him, it gave the breakaway the chance to succeed. Johan Bruyneel attacked through the Mountain points with Konyshev on his wheel, the two rode away from the bunch together.[35] It came down to a sprint where Konshev beat Bruyneel by 1 second taking his first ever Grand tour stage.[36][37] At the conclusion of the Tour Konyshev was in 25th and 3rd in the youth classification.[38]
Konyshev only rode four further races in the 1990 season the first was the Giro del Veneto where a reduced bunch of five riders made their way to the line after the hilly course. Konyshev ended up finishing fourth. It was then off to the UCI Road World Championships where he once again rode the Road race this time with eyes upon him from last year's performance he ended up working for team-mate Piotr Ugrumov who finished eleventh. Konyshev came home 45 seconds down in 30th.[39] His final two races were Trofeo Baracchi and the Giro dell'Emilia he didn't finish the first and came 77th in the second.
Konshev started the 1991 season with a team change to the Dutch TVM–Sanyo team. His first race was Trofeo Pantalica where he finished 12th equal in the main bunch. It was then off to Tirreno–Adriatico where he sprinted to win Stage 3. Working for Dane Jesper Skibby at the Tour of Flanders, Konyshev came across the line in the fifth bunch of cyclists placing 26th.[40] Later in April he rode the Grand Prix Pino Cerami finishing 8th as last place in the chasing bunch of lone winner Andrei Tchmil. It was then off to the Ardennes classics which started with La Flèche Wallonne where Konyshev was joint leader. He finished in 5th position 3'02" down on the winner.[41] Next was the Amstel Gold Race where three riders got away and sprinted for the victory but Konyshev was in the main peloton and finished 77th in the sprint for the remaining places.
Starting in his first Grand tour for the year Konyshev lined up with the number 111 on his back.[42] It was his first time participating in the Vuelta a España. Stage 1 was a Team time trial in teams of three, Konyshev's team came 5th in the stage placing him 15th going into the Vuelta.[43] Stage 2a was a sprint where Konyshev came 12th. Stage 2b was another TTT this time all of the team's riders rode together on the 41 km course. TVM came fourth in the Stage, 1'37" behind winners ONCE.[44] This moved him to 24th overall almost 2 minutes down. Stage 3 was hilly stage this time Konyshev led out teammate Jesper Skibby who took the win with Konyshev finishing 5th. He abandoned the race during Stage 5 with a broken collarbone.[45]
The next race for Konyshev was the Tour de France where he came as a domestique for Gert-Jan Theunisse, who would finish 13th overall, and to hunt Stage wins. Konyshev's first opportunity came on Stage 9 when the breakaway he was in made it to the final two kilometers. With attacks from the Belgian Johan Bruyneel who was only caught with 800m to go. Mauro Ribeiro the attacked and held off with Laurent Jalabert second and Konyshev in third.[46] Stage 19 was the next chance for victory. Konyshev was in the breakaway of the day with Pascal Richard. The two attacked early on in the stage and worked together the whole stage as there was a bunch catching up. With 800m to go Konyshev started his sprint Richard came around and celebrated as he did so Konyshev passed him on the line taking the stage victory.[47] The final stage of the Tour finished as usual on the Champs-Élysées in a bunch sprint. Lemond attacked and held the bunch off getting a lead of 50 seconds but the Banesto team of winner Miguel Induráin paced him down ensuring the race would end in a sprint. With 2 km to go the sprint trains of TVM and Carrera Jeans–Tassoni, who were riding for Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, were neck and neck. Abdoujaparov opened the sprint, with his elbows out style, he crashed into the barriers taking out a lot of the competition. Konyshev on the other side of the road missed the chaos and powered through to victory taking his second stage this edition and the last Grand tour stage win for a Soviet.[48][49] Konyshev placed 52nd Overall in the Tour.
In August had three races; Züri-Metzgete, Trittico Premondiale I and Giro del Veneto, he came 19th, 6th and 19th respectively. The Grand Prix de la Libération was a stand-alone Team time trial event where teams would field six riders over a 90 km course, TVM placed 5th 1' 33" down on winners Buckler–Colnago–Decca.[50] Konyshev's season ended at Paris–Tours where he led Johan Capiot to victory in a mass bunch sprint.
Following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991 all Soviet athletes were now to ride under the flag of their new country. Konyshev was now to ride under the Russian flag in all events. Still riding for the TVM–Sanyo his season started at Milan–San Remo where he attacked on the Cipressa and got away with another rider. The attempt was in vain as they were caught shortly after by the Ariostea team who were pacing for Moreno Argentin.[51] The first major result of the season came at the Amstel Gold Race which was a 247.5 kilometer hilly classic ending in an uphil mass sprint. Winner Olaf Ludwig was leading to the bottom of the hill and started his sprint early, Konyshev was part of the main pack that fought to catch Ludwig but ended up settling for 3rd.[52]
It was then off to the first Grand tour of the season the Vuelta a España which started with a prologue. Konyshev placed in the top 10 of stages 3, 4, 5 and 6 before not starting the 8th stage. Stage 2b was a TTT with TVM finishing 1' 03" behind Gatorade–Chateau d'Ax.[53] The closest Konyshev came to victory was Stage 4 where he came fourth in the bunch sprint.[54] It was off to Germany, after recovering from the Vuelta, for the Dekra Open Stutgart helping Peter Meinert Nielsen to second overall. In June at the Vuelta a Asturias while riding as a domestique for Nielsen once again he was given the opportunity to ride for himself. He did just that by sprinting to victory in Stage 6 of the event.
Riding at the inaugural Russian National Road Race Championships in late June he finished second behind Asiat Saitov of the Kelme–Don Cafe team. July brought around the Tour de France where Konyshev was making his third appearance.[55] The Tour started hard, with Konyshev losing time in the hills during the first week. Stage 5 provided the first opportunity for Konyshev. He was in the break of the day which at 30 km to go had a lead of 5 minutes, the Lotto–Mavic–MBK was pacing in the peloton. An attack by Guido Bontempi in the last 5 kilometers to take a lead of 30 seconds to the finish. Konyshev then attacked in the final kilometre to gain 6 seconds on the rest of the breakaway and take second.[56] Stages 6 & 7 were both bunch sprints where the breakaway had won, so Konyshev was only sprinting for the minor placings and managed 8th and 6th. Climbing the mountains of Stage 11 Konyshev was part of a three-man breakaway with Laurent Fignon and Laurent Dufaux. The chase group caught them after the big hill and they worked together until Fignon attacked and got away. As part of the second bunch Konyshev sprinted to 5th position.[57] At the start of the final mountain in Stage 15 Franco Chioccioli attacked and got clear of the ONCE led peloton. On the descent of that hill Konyshev attacked and got a small gap, further down the descent he was joined by Giancarlo Perini. The two worked hard to catch Chioccioli, but to no avail the Italian would win the stage, coming into the finishing straight the pair had a 50m lead on the peloton. Perini was leading until Konyshev opened his sprint with 200m to go and easily took second place on the stage.[58] Konyshev went on to abandon during Stage 17 of the race.
After recovering from the Tour, Konyshev's next race was the Clásica de San Sebastián where he finished fourth with the chase bunch 1' 12" down on the winner.[59] It was then off to the Netherlands for the Ronde van Nederland where Konyshev achieved fourth place in stage 2. Konyshev concluded his season at the UCI Road World Championships where he competed in the Road race placing third in the reduced bunch sprint behind Gianni Bugno.[60][61]
After leaving TVM–Sanyo at the end of 1992 Konyshev joined Jolly Componibili–Club 88 for the 1993 season. Konyshev's season started at Tirreno–Adriatico where he sprinted to 10th in Stage 6. He then raced Milan–San Remo this year not featuring in the action but finishing in 96th in the third bunch on the road. Konyshev then road the Belgian classics not finishing above 35th in any of them. He would achieve a podium in Stage 3 of the Giro del Trentino.
It wasn't until the Giro d'Italia that he would get some good results.[62] Stage 1a was an 85 km race which ended with Moreno Argentin attacking on the last rise and the peloton coming home 35s down with Konyshev sprinting to 10th place. Stage 2 ended in a bunch sprint with Konyshev taking third.[63] The only notable hill in Stage 5 occurred with 12 km to go, this is when Konyshev made his attack. Join by Italians Stefano Della Santa and Flavio Giupponi the three worked hard together. The finish was an uphill sprint with Konyshev launching with 200m to go, the peloton was just behind them. Konyshev won the stage by 2 seconds to Della Santa with the peloton finishing 4 seconds behind.[64] This stage win moved him into 9th position in the Overall ranking.[65] The following day Stage 6 finished in a bunch sprint with Konyshev finishing in 5th place. In stage 7 the break-away won the stage with Konyshev safely in the peloton holding his ninth overall. With Stage 8 ending in another mass sprint an out-of position Konyshev sprinted to 12th finishing the same time as the winner. Konyshev held his 9th overall placing until Stage 10 a 28 km Individual time trial (ITT) where he lost 3' 15" dropping to 26th place overall.[66] It wasn't until Stage 12 where Konyshev would feature again. Taking his second stage win of the Giro this time by a sprint of 20 riders who had ridden away from race leader Bruno Leali and the Banesto controlled peloton.[67] He featured twice more in reduced bunch sprints in this edition of the Giro finishing 6th in Stage 16 and 9th in Stage 21. Konyshev finished 26th Overall in the Giro, the best placing of his career.
In late June it was off the Russian National Road Race Championships where he won beating last year's winner Asiat Saitov. Of the twelve races Konyshev would ride after winning in Russia, in only 4 of them would he have some success. Stage 4 of the Ronde van Nederland finished in a sprint where Konyshev came fourth. Another fourth in the one-day race Giro della Romagna came later in September. The last two races of his 1993 season were Gran Piemonte, often thought of as a warm-up race for his final race the Giro di Lombardia. At the Gran Piemonte Konyshev finished fourth in a sprint of 6 riders who escaped from the peloton earlier in the race. The Giro di Lombardia was an exciting race with many attacks throughout the day. Konyshev missed the move of the day but kept working in the peloton. When the peloton was in the finishing straight Konyshev attacked taking a gap of 5 seconds to secure 9th place in the race.[68]
Konyshev started his 1994 season with Jolly Componibili–Cage in February at the Trofeo Laigueglia where he came 23rd. His first major race was in Italy the Tirreno–Adriatico where he achieved third in three stages and tenth in another, finishing 26th overall.
The 1994 Milan–San Remo was won by Giorgio Furlan who won by attacking on the Poggio and holding off the chasing bunch to the line. Konyshev was part of the bunch chasing Furlan, he finished 20 seconds down sprinting to tenth place.[69][70] It was then off to Belgium to prepare for the cobble classics where Konyshev came 24th at E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, 30th at Classic Brugge–De Panne and 12th at the Tour of Flanders. The Tour of Flanders ended in a photo-finish for the winners but Konyshev came home 1' 54" behind the winners in the bunch sprint for 6th.[71] This good result was followed by 7th at Gent–Wevelgem and off to the hell of the north, Paris–Roubaix. The conditions for Roubaix were unusual in 1994 because the surrounding areas had been covered in snow. The race was tough as snow fell on them in short flurries over the day which made the cobble slippery and muddy.[72] Konyshev came home over 13 minutes down in 37th.[73] With Konyshev not being in his best form and missing the moves of the day he came home in 40th for the years La Flèche Wallonne where the Gewiss–Ballan team took all three spots on the podium.[74] The Amstel Gold Race was held three days later on 23 April 1994, Konyshev sprinted home in the second bunch on the road to 12th position. An eighth place in the mass sprint finish of Eschborn–Frankfurt gave Konyshev a moral boost.
He then went to Italy to prepare for the Giro d'Italia, riding first the Giro di Toscana then Giro del Friuli finishing 13th and sixth respectively. The 1994 Giro d'Italia started in Bologna with a flat stage which resulted in a mass bunch sprint where Konyshev came tenth.[75] He achieved three more top-10 places in this year's Giro his best being Stage 12 where he came fourth 2 seconds behind the winner.[76] On Stage 19 Konyshev crashed and had to abandon the race. He did not race again until the end of July at the Vuelta a Burgos with a fourth place in the mass sprint of Stage 1.
He finished in the peloton for the One-day race Clásica de San Sebastián, coming home 2' 09" down on the winner in 16th.[77] His only victory of the season came at the Ronde van Nederland where Konyshev won Stage 1 of the race taking the lead by 23 seconds after escaping with Luca Scinto. Konyshev completed his season with the Autumn Classics bettering his last years result in Giro di Lombardia to finsish fourth this year. During the road race at the 1994 UCI Road World Championships Konychev got a bag stuck in his rear shifter so only had access to two of his gears yet he still finished in sixth place 15 seconds down on the winner.[78] All of Konyshev's top-10 placements in the years races he finished 29th in the world rankings his best result for his whole career.[79]
Konyshev rode for the same team again this season but the team had a sponsor change so was now called Aki–Gipiemme. Starting his season even earlier this year on 8 February 1995 at the La Méditerranéenne. With his team losing time in the opening Team time trial Konyshev had some time to make up. He did this on Stage 3 by grabbing the bonus seconds that came with finishing third followed by on Stage 6 third again this time in a mountain sprint. This moved him to finish fourth overall his best Stage race result since 1989.[80] After finishing ninth in Nice–Alassio Konyshev headed to Spain to ride the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana where he finished third on the final stage.[81]
Tirreno–Adriatico was the first major race of the 1995 season for Konyshev. With the first 3 stages not being won by more than 5 seconds he did not lose too much time. Konyshev finished fourth in Stage 4, 10 seconds down on the winner. With Gianluca Pierobon winning from the breakaway up the hilly Stage 5 Konyshev only lost 11 seconds to the race leader. The rest of the stages ended in mass sprints with Konyshev sprinting to seventh in Stage 7. This meant at the conclusion of the Tour Konyshev was third overall his top result in a Top level stage race.[82] Continuing in Italy the next race was Milan–San Remo. Konyshev made the move of the day but was distanced on the Poggio from the leaders, he held of the peloton by 2 seconds to come home seventh 15 seconds down on the winner.[83] It was then off to the Belgium classics. First up Brabantse Pijl where Konyshev came third, losing the sprint for seconds place to Alexander Gontchenkov. The pair came home 6 seconds down on winner Edwig van Hooydonck after being distanced on the final climb.[84] Participating in Gent–Wevelgem for the third time, Konyshev finished in the main peloton sprinting to 12th 17 seconds down on the winner.[85] The next classic on the schedule was La Flèche Wallonne. With 22 km to go in the race there was a trio of riders 16seconds ahead of the chase bunch where Konyshev was one of 20 riders. With 17 km to go Gianni Bugno's team start chasing hard. With 4 km the breakaway has won the race with the chase group fighting for the remaining positions. With the finish being up a hill the chase bunch came down to a straight sprint where Konyshev came 14th in the race 1' 03" down on the winners.[86][87] Liège–Bastogne–Liège was won by another breakaway with Konyshev coming home 20th over 10 minutes down.[88] The sixth spring and final spring classic for Konyshev his season was Eschborn–Frankfurt where he finished in the main peloton in 13th position.[89] Konyshev's first win of the season came at Giro del Friuli a one-day race where he won the reduced bunch uphill sprint.[90]
It was then off to the Giro d'Italia where Konyshev had a very poor performance compared to recent years his best result was 14th in Stage 5.[91] He would abandon the race during Stage 14.[92] He did not race again until early June at Euskal Bizikleta where he achieved eighth in Stage 4's sprint.
Konyshev's team only got an invite to the 1995 Tour de France in the week before the race begun as Le Groupement team folded.[93] Konshev was named co-leader with Zenon Jaskula.[94] Konyshev did not achieve any notable results in the Tour and abandoned during Stage 12. He did not race for a month after abandoning, resuming racing in late August at Championship of Zurich where he finished 84th almost 6 minutes down.[95] Completing two more races in August the GP Ouest–France where he came fourth and Trittico Premondiale I where he came sixth. In October he rode the Road race at the 1995 UCI Road World Championships finishing in seventh.[96] Konyshev closed his season with a fifth place in Giro del Piemonte followed by 19th in Giro di Lombardia.[97]
Konyshev started his fourth and final year at Aki–Gipiemme.[98] His first race for the year was Tour du Haut Var where he finished 17th in the bunch sprint.[99] It was then off to Spain for the first Stage-race of the season Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. With the main GC men winning Stage 1 by over 11 minutes the first seven places were decided from day one.[100] Konshev sprinted to fifth in the second stage and seventh on the fourth stage moving him to tenth overall dropping to 11th at the conclusion of the Tour.[101] He did not race again until May at the Giro del Trentino. Stage 2 of the race ended in a bunch sprint with Konyshev coming the closest so far to a victory being beaten by the slimmest of margins by Fabiano Fontanelli.[102]
Entering his sixth Giro d'Italia being named as leader for his team.[103] His only top 10 came in Stage 3 where he sprinted to seventh place.[104] Konyshev did not start Stage 17 of the Giro. Seven days later he started the Tour de Suisse finishing 12 seconds down on fellow countryman Evgeni Berzin in the opening prologue.[105] Stage 2 was a mountain stage where Konyshev took the early break, he spent 80 km alone before being joined by others.[106] Konyshev spent other stages in the break this gave him points in the mountain classification which he finished second in behind teammate Andrey Teteryuk.[107]
He then headed home for the Russian National Road Race Championships where he placed third. Before heading to the Summer Olympics he raced in Germany. At the LUK Cup Bühl he sprinted to second, of three, from an original breakaway of seven riders who attacked on lap four of 11.[108] The last race before the Olympics was Hofbrau Cup a four-stage race. Konyshev won the first stage in a two-man sprint over two minutes ahead of the third placed rider. He held the lead for the whole race which was solidified by winning Stage 4 once again in a two-up sprint.[109]
The 1996 Olympics was the first edition since 1912 where Russia had participated separately from other countries. Konyshev was one of five Russian Cyclists selected to ride the Men's individual road race. He was the best placed Russian in the race finishing 13th out of the 117 that finished.[110][111] Returning to Europe, Konyshev headed to Spain for the one-day classic Clásica de San Sebastián where he did not feature coming home in 47th. Staying in Spain he headed to the Tour of Galicia where a third place in stage one and not losing too much time of the remaining four stages gave him tenth overall.[112] He rode three more races in August; Coppa Agostoni, Grand Prix de Suisse and the Giro del Veneto with his best placing being tenth in Veneto and worst being 18th in Agostoni.
On 7 September the Vuelta a España started, having only in 1995 moved to September from April. Konyshev wore the number 11 as the leader for his Aki–Gipiemme team.[113][114] A flat 162 km stage started the Vuelta with Konyshev coming home in 23rd. Stage 2 was another flat stage resulting in a bunch sprint where he came 12th moving him to 14th in the Overall classification.[115] Stage 3 ended with Konyshev sprinting to fifth place moving him into sixth place overall.[116] With 700m to go in Stage 6 Konyshev attacked hoping to win, only for Italian Fabio Baldato to pass him just before the line denying him victory.[117] Another sprint ended Stage 7 with Konyshev once again in the top 10 placing sixth.[118] It wasn't until 25 September during Stage 18 that Konyshev would feature again. This time he attacked in the middle of the stage forming a group of four riders. these four would gain an advantage of four minutes on the peloton and ride to the finish together. Konyshev was able to out sprint his companions taking his first Vuelta Stage victory and completing the triple for winning a stage in each Grand Tour.[119] At the conclusion of the Vuelta on 29 September Konyshev was 35th Overall and placed third in the Mountains classification 70 points behind winner Tony Rominger.[120]
Konyshev only rode three more races in the 1996 season the first being Paris–Tours where he finished 31st, then it was the world championships and finally the Giro di Lombardia where he came 12th 8:26 down on the winner.[121]
After four years with Aki–Gipiemme Konyshev moved to Russian sponsored Italian Team Roslotto–ZG Mobili.[122] He started his season in February at Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 where he finished 85th in the mass bunch sprint for the line. His first signs of success in 1997 occurred at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana where he sprinted to fifth in Stage 2 to sit 7 seconds down at the end of Stage 4. Only to lose time in the Stage 5b time trial and finish 24th overall 2' 11" down on the winner.[123] Still in Spain he rode the Clásica de Almería leading out teammate Massimo Strazzer to victory Konyshev managed to finish in 12th.[124] His first stage-race of the season was Vuelta a Murcia. Konyshev was there as a domestique for leader Strazzer so did not feature in Stage 1. However, in Stage 2 the main contenders escaped on the climbs and Konyshev was able to sprint to seventh in the peloton over 2 minutes down. Konyshev was then able to sprint to second in the following Stage after leading out Strazzer for the win, he had to brake to let Strazzer. Stage 4 was a reduced bunch coming to the line with Konyshev being the one led out this time by Pavel Padrnos he sprinted to take his first victory of the season. Going into the final Stage a time-trial Konyshev sat on sixth position 2 minutes down. He lost 2' 37" in the time-trial dropping down to 16th Overall. Because of his consistent performance Konyshev won the Green Points jersey.[125][126] His next race was the 'Race of the Two Seas' better known as Tirreno–Adriatico. Konyshev did not feature in the results until the final few stages. Stage 5 ended in a mass sprint with Konyshev sprinting to tenth then Stage 6 brought his second win of the season. Konyshev attacked and finished 12 seconds ahead of the peloton on the hilly stage.[127]
The first Classic for 1997 was the Milan–San Remo. Konyshev was marked as a 3-star favourite for the race with Laurent Jalabert the absolute favourite with 5 stars.[128] Konyshev and Andrea Ferrigato attacked on the Poggio but did not achieve a gap on the peloton. Konyshev came home in 24th as part of the 39 riders who made it to the line together.[129] The following week he went to E3 Prijs Vlaanderen where Strazzer led the team, finishing in tenth with Konyshev in the peloton over three minutes behind. The final race of March was the Grand Prix de Wallonie, a hilly classic of 199 km. Konyshev came to the finish line with Laurent Madouas who he was able to beat in the two-up sprint to take his third victory of the season.[130] It was then off to Belgium for the Spring Classics first up was the Tour of Flanders with Konyshev finishing 29th, 4' 30" down on the winner.[131] The next races were the La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège where he came 90th and 52nd respectively. Konyshev then headed to Switzerland as final preparation for the giro, he rode the GP Kanton Aargau coming third in the bunch sprint.[132] Then the Tour de Romandie where he came home 72nd overall not placing in any stage.[133]
The 1997 Giro d'Italia was Konyshev's seventh Tour of Italy. Stage 1 was a flat stage for the sprinters with Konyshev attacking 64 km into the stage to make it into the break-away but he was caught by the peloton before the finish as the Saeco–Estro team worked hard for Mario Cipollini. Konyshev was first through the Intergiro sprint which meant he led the Intergiro competition. This was like the Overall classification but time was taken from midway through the stage and the leader of this competition wore a blue jersey. With his sprint he also took some bonus seconds. He finished the stage in 162nd 20 seconds down with bonus seconds this placed him 38th Overall 26 seconds down on Cipollini.[134][135] Konyshev lost 42 seconds in Stage 2 and over three and a half minutes in the Stage 3 Individual time trial these losses solidified his position as domestique for team leaders Piotr Ugrumov and Paolo Savoldelli. He spent the rest of the Giro getting into the break and solidifying his lead in the InterGiro classification. He finished seventh in Stage 6 coming to the line with the peloton for the bunch sprint.[136] Stage 9 was won by Konyshev taking the mass bunch sprint after a hilly stage to take his third Giro stage.[137][138] By the end of Stage 19 Konyshev had secured his victory in the Intergiro classification.[139] He finished the Giro overall in 37th in his seventh appearance.[140]
Konyshev did not enter another race until the Clásica de San Sebastián in August, he did not finish the race.[141] Later in August he rode the Trofeo Melinda where he sprinted to third in the second bunch coming 29th Overall. September brought the Tour de Pologne where Konyshev's Roslotto–ZG Mobili team had last year's winner Viatcheslav Djavanian. Konyshev won Stage 6 of the race from a two-man breakaway with Kazakhstani Alexandre Vinokourov, the pair finished 28 seconds ahead of the peloton. Stage 7 ended in a mass sprint with Konyshev being led out to aim for victory, he was no match for Markus Zberg who took the stage ahead of Konyshev.[142] At the Giro del Lazio Konyshev was in the front group of the race till he was distanced on the final climb finishing 20 seconds down in tenth position.[143]
Konyshev ended his 1997 season in October with the Road race at the UCI Road World Championships which he did not finish.[144]
Konyshev's tenth season as a professional started with a change to a new team. He moved to the Mercatone Uno–Bianchi team to be a domestique to Marco Pantani whilst still being able to occasionally ride for himself.[145]
His first race in the new team colors was the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana where he raced in support of Pantani for the Overall. Konyshev was allowed to ride for himself on the fourth stage, a mountain stage. Pantani was already four minutes down on the current leader.[146] Konyshev won stage 4 of the Tour in a two-man sprint in an uphill stage.[147] This was his only win of the season. Pantani lost over 21 minutes in this stage making Konyshev the new team leader where he finished 24th overall after the 5 days of racing.[148] The next race was the Spanish one-day Clásica de Almería where Mercatone came into the race with both Pantani and Sprinter Mario Traversoni as leaders. The race was calm until the midpoint where strong crosswinds split the group apart. Konyshev was in the front group with his teammates. The finish came down to a reduced bunch sprint where he led out Traversoni for the win. Konyshev still managed to get fifth after working for his leader.[149] Once again with the plan to work for Pantani, Konyshev started the Vuelta a Murcia.[150] Stage 1 was a flat stage where everyone kept up and Konyshev worked for Traversoni who placed fourth. In Stage 2 the lead out was more successful with Traversoni winning the stage. The third stage is where the bigger hills arrived, an attack by Pantani had allowed a group of 20 to be off the front Konyshev was part of this group. The 20 men came to the line together with Konyshev sprinting to fourth.[151] Stage 4a was a short mountain climb where Konyshev lost almost four minutes to the winner dropping to 23rd overall. He did not start the final stage of the race.[152] It was then off to Italy for Tirreno–Adriatico where Stage 1 ended in a mass sprint with Konyshev coming eighth.[153] Stage 2 of the race had some of the worst race conditions Konyshev had experienced. It was raining the whole stage which caused unsafe conditions and with 50 km to go a major crash occurred cause around 128 riders to be halted. Konyshev was caught up with the crash. At the site many riders asked the organisers to stop the race to allow those behind the crash to catch up. Their requests were denied so the 125-strong group rode to the finish together, these riders experienced more bad luck with more crashes throughout the stage. This resulted in them finishing outside of the time-limit and the race organiser kicked 125 riders from starting Stage 3.[154]
Konyshev was chosen to ride Milan–San Remo as his first cycling classic of the year.[155][156] He finished over six minutes down in 89th. The only race he rode in April was the Amstel Gold Race, Konyshev had podium-ed this race in 1992. Konyshev abandoned the race during the climb of the Loorberg within the first hours of the race.[157]
In preparation to help win Pantani win the 1998 Giro d'Italia,[158] Konyshev went to the Tour de Romandie where he finished 104th. The Giro started with a 8 km prologue in France, Konshev finished 39 seconds down in 77th.[159] Konyshev did not get to ride for himself in this tour he worked solely for Pantani who was able to win the Overall classification of the race.[160] Konyshev would ride again in support of Pantani at another Grand Tour, he had been selected to ride the 1998 Tour de France.[161][162] Before the Tour started Konyshev headed back to Russia to ride the Russian National Road Race Championships he came away with a bronze medal finishing third 1' 26" down on winner Sergei Ivanov.[163]
The Tour de France this year started in Ireland again with a prologue where Konyshev finished in 151st. Konyshev abandoned the Tour on stage 10.[164] The day before he had been one of the last to finish in the heat and was last on the overall classification.[165] Konyshev rode two more races in 1998; the Clásica de San Sebastián and the Grand Prix de Suisse. His best result was in the GP de Suisse where he came home in the second bunch sprinting to 14th.[166]
Staying with Mercatone Uno–Bianchi for a second season Konyshev started 1999 at the Trofeo Luis Puig in Spain. The one-day race ended in a mass sprint with Konyshev finishing 97th.[167] His season started poor with DNF's in Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Tirreno–Adriatico and Paris–Roubaix. In those early months he did however finish the Vuelta a Murcia where he came 85th overall while helping Marco Pantani to win the race.[168] This was followed by a poor result in the Amstel Gold Race where he came home in the grupetto 9' 20" down on the winner, but he did win the sprint in the Gruppeto to finish in 37th.[169]
1 May brought about the best result of the season so far achieving 11th place in Eschborn–Frankfurt finishing in the mass sprint.[170] It was then off to the Tour de Romandie where he once again came 11th in a mass sprint finish this time in the final stage. It wasn't until June at the Volta a Catalunya that Konyshev was able to ride for himself.[171] The race started with a Prologue where Konyshev lost over a minute finishing in 91st. The first stage was flat but with hills near the end. With 7 km to go Konyshev attacked on one of these hills he was third over the top grabbing two points in the King of the Mountains classification. The Saeco–Cannondale team worked hard in the peloton for Mario Cipollini so Konyshev was caught soon after the hill.[172] On Stage 2 Konyshev gained two more points in the KOM classification. On Stage 4 Konyshev gained 20 points in the KOM classification to sit second at the end of the day. But it was his performance in the stage which showed his class, he sprinted to third behind Erik Zabel of Team Telekom in a reduced bunch sprint.[173] Stage 5 also ended in a sprint this time Konyshev came seventh, still second in the mountain classification. In Stage 6 Konyshev made his way into the break of the day and won the third and fourth KOM sprints, gaining 16 points and moving him into the red jersey.[174] Stage 7 was an ITT where Konyshev came 44th, there were Mountain points on offer at the finish line. Luckily for Konyshev no one close in the KOM classification gained points. He won the red jersey at the end of the tour for winning the Mountain classification overall.[175]
The 1999 Tour de France brought with it a lot of drama around doping. With the Festina affair still on everyone's mind the Tour started without many large contenders. Konyshev's Mercatone Uno–Bianchi team started with Stefano Garzelli as leader while Pantani was recovering from his expulsion from the 1999 Giro d'Italia.[176] The prologue of the Tour had a hill in the middle and the fastest times up the hill got Mountain points. Konyshev had the second fastest time so he gained 3 points in the Mountains classification to sit second behind Mariano Piccoli. At the finish line Konyshev set the 162nd best time losing 1' 08" to Lance Armstrong.[177] Konyshev spent a lot of the Tour going into the break and gaining Mountain points. He never wore the Mountain jersey at the Tour he always sat no higher than second. In Stage 11 Konyshev was in the break taking mountain points when Ludo Dierckxsens attacked, Konyshev could not follow. Dierckxsens made it to the line first with Konyshev winning the four-way sprint for second place.[178][179][180] Stage 14 started with a crash at 7 km into the stage. Shortly after the crash, Konyshev attacked and started the break of the day. After 55 km they were joined by four other riders making a group of six. Their lead shot up to over four minutes and grew more and more as each kilometre was passed. With 36 km to go the gap was 14 minutes to the peloton. Gianni Faresin made an attack with 4 km to go where only Konyshev could follow. Faresin ended up leading all the way to the finish until Konyshev came around him with 400m to go taking his fourth Stage win at the Tour de France.[181][182] Konyshev came 18th on the final stage of the tour setting his 62nd overall in stone.[183]
Following on from the Tour, Konyshev didn't race any more Stage-races instead only one-day events. the first one was the Clásica de San Sebastián where he came home in the second peloton 3' 14" down.[184] One of this good results Post the Tour was a victory in the Grand Prix de Fourmies. He made it into the move of the day, an 11-man group with two former winners. The 11 worked together with the group breaking apart at the end of the race so it came down to a six-man sprint. Konyshev was the fastest taking his second win of the season.[185] Keeping his good form, Konyshev raced the Giro del Lazio where he took third behind his teammate who won from an attack from 2 km before the line.[186] The good results continued with another win. Konyshev once again made it into the winning move, this time with nine riders who all worked well together until Marco Serpellini attacked. Konyshev was the only one who could follow, the two battled it out in the closing kilometres with Konyshev taking the victory in the sprint.[187] The next race was the Road race at the 1999 UCI Road World Championships. The course was 16 laps equaling 260 km. With three laps to go Konyshev was part of a group of seven who joined up with the group of six riders at the front. On the final lap only nine riders remained with Konyshev being thought of as the Favorite to win. Unknown rider Óscar Freire attacked with the other eight looking at each other he got away. Freire won the race by four seconds to the others with Konyshev coming in ninth place.[188] The final two races of the season were Milano–Torino, where he sprinted to seventh,[189] and the Giro di Lombardia. With 43 km to go in the Giro di Lombardia a group of five had a 30-second lead over a 24-man chase group. Konyshev was the only man capable of jumping across the gap between the two bunches joining the quintet to become a sextet. On the final climb Konyshev and Mirko Celestino were distanced only to slowly catch up and Celestino spring past everyone to win. Konyshev was only able to just hold on and take fifth in the race.[190]
The start of the 21st Century brought a new team, Fassa Bortolo, to the Top division of cycling and a new team for Konyshev.[191] The Russian Cycling federation owed money relating to Konyshev's old team Roslotto–ZG Mobili, who he rode for in 1997. Which meant the UCI was going to exclude Russian riders from entering the 2000 Summer Olympics. A late call was made in early 2000 saying they should not punish riders and all Russian's can compete at all international events.[192]
His season started at La Méditerranéenne where he came 130th over 34 minutes down. Followed by the Trofeo Luis Puig and Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. With Konyshev getting a top-10 in Stage four of the later.[193] It wasn't until the Trofeo Pantalica in March that Konyshev was back into the swing of things sand showed some good form. He placed fifth, second in his bunch sprint on the day.[194] The next day he rode the Giro della Provincia di Siracusa finishing fifth in the bunch sprint after leading out teammate Gabriele Balducci for third.[195] Staying in Italy Konyshev headed to Tirreno–Adriatico where he achieved the best result of the season so far, he sprinted to fourth in Stage one.[196] He would finish the race 55th overall after eight stages.[197]
The first Classic of the year for Konyshev was Milan–San Remo he sprinted to 20th while leading out Fabio Baldato who came second.[198] The following month he raced the Tour of Flanders once again working for Baldato. The race finished with a solo winner followed by a mass bunch sprint with Konyshev coming home in 13th.[199] The 'Hell of the North' was the next race for Konyshev. He was riding in his third Paris–Roubaix. Konyshev was part of a twelve-man break that got away after 35 km. After 171 km of racing the break had been reduced to four riders with Konyshev remaining. After 194 km of racing they were caught by the favorites bunch. Konyshev held on for as long as he could coming home in 25th 3' 17" down on the winner.[200][201] At Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the Amstel Gold Race and Eschborn–Frankfurt he came 70th, 48th and 55th respectively.
His first victory of the season came at the Tour de Romandie. With Konyshev losing over 50 seconds in the opening prologue coming home in 122 position his overall hopes were ruined.[202] In stage 2 Konyshev was in the break of the day gaining 10 points in the points classification before being caught and coming home in 68th.[203] Konyshev came second on Stage 3 of the Tour after Eddy Mazzoleni (Team Polti) managed to hold the peloton off by three seconds.[204] On the final stage of the Tour the race had sprints in the middle of the stage which counted towards the sprint classification. Konyshev won both of these and secured his the victory in the Sprints classification.[205]
Konyshev rode the 2000 Giro d'Italia initially in support of Fabio Baldato who suffered a bad crash in Stage 2 and did not start Stage 3.[206] With Baltado out of the Giro, Konyshev led out Matteo Tosatto for the sprints in Stage 2 and 3. In Stage 3 Tosatto misjudged the leadout by Konyshev leading to a fourth in the stage but taking the Maglia ciclamino as leader of the points classification.[207][208] Stage 4 ended a mass bunch sprint with Konyshev sprinting to second behind Mario Cipollini gaining 20 points and moving to tenth in the points classification.[209] Stage 6 of the Giro was an up-hill mass sprint where it came down to two men Konyshev and Jeroen Blijlevens. Konyshev's Fassa Bortolo team lead him out to the perfect point where he started his sprint. Blijlevens thought he could catch Konyshev but to no avail he finished second a whole wheel length behind. Konyshev had won his fourth and final stage in the Giro d'Italia.[210][211] The following day, Stage 7, was another flat stage but this time it ended with a solo breakaway. When the peloton came to the line Konyshev took second in the mass sprint gaining 16 points in the points classification. In the intermediate sprint Konyshev was able to gain 6 points. These points moved him into the Maglia ciclamino.[212] The next Stage that Konyshev showed his sprinting form was Stage 9 where he gained 6 points by sprinting to second in the intermediate sprint.[213] Stage 10 ended in a mass sprint with Konyshev sprinting to seventh. Stage 12 brought the Giro to the mountains and with that Konyshev made it into the break of the day with 23 other men. With Konyshev wanting the day to end in a sprint he chased down many attacks over the day. But as the group reached the top of the only climb that day three riders attacked and gained a gap of 1' 10" by the summit. Konyshev slowly and surely paced them down creating a bunch sprint of 13 where he came third.[214] He gained 20 points this stage strengthening his lead in the points classification.[215] During Stage 13 Konyshev was in the break of the day gaining second in the intermediate sprint but then dropping on some of the steeper climbs. Stage 16 is the next chance for Konyshev where the finish is flat and teammate Alessandro Petacchi lead him out perfectly only for Konyshev to be blocked by a rider going back through the bunch.[216] The final stage of the Giro, Stage 21, ended in the unusual way that a breakaway won the stage Konyshev came second in the peloton and seventh on the stage. By finishing the race he won the Points classification by 40 points and he also won the award for being the most combative rider.[217]
Konyshev did not race again until the Vuelta a Burgos in August where his top result was 17th on the final stage finishing 97th overall. Following him not finishing the Clásica de San Sebastián and Züri-Metzgete he rode the Giro del Veneto where he finished over eight minutes down in 66th. In September he rode the Giro della Romagna and won the mass sprint finish to claim his second non-classification win of the season.[218][219] The next week he rode the Brussels Cycling Classic which ended in a mass sprint where Konyshev came tenth.[220] His two last top 10 results of the season came in Coppa Sabatini, where he came eighth as part of an original 12-man breakaway he got dropped on the hilly climbs,[221] and tenth at the Olympic Games Road race. Konyshev was part of a 5-man team selected to represent Russia at the Olympic games in the road race.[222] He was active during the race attacking at the end of lap 8 starting a break of 5 men who were ultimately caught by the next lap. By the end of lap 11 a 12-man break had formed with Konyshev in the mix. Three riders from Team Telekom attacked and kept away with Konyshev in the sprint for fourth. He ended in tenth place 1' 26" down on winner Jan Ullrich.[223][224]
Konyshev started his 2001 season with a Team Fassa Bortolo training camp in Tuscany.[225] It was his second year with the Italian team, at 35 years old he was the oldest in the team for the 2001 season.[226] Konyshev started racing in France with the La Méditerranéenne where he finished 88th at the completion of the six-stage race.
Konyshev's first podium of the season came from a sprint in Stage 2 of the Giro della Liguria where Italian Stefano Zanini (Mapei–Quick-Step) beat him on the line.[227] He finished the race 18th overall. At the beginning of March at the GP Open Campania Konyshev took his first victory of the season winning from a reduced bunch sprint.[228] A week later at the Giro della Provincia di Siracusa Konyshev finished in the main peloton where an error in the finishing camera equipment meant everyone past eighth place was given eighth place.[229]
The first major stage-race that Konyshev raced was Tirreno–Adriatico. The eight-stage race started with a flat stage ending in a bunch sprint. Biagio Conte (Saeco) took the win ahead of Konyshev.[230] Stage 2 also ended in a sprint with Konyshev coming home fifth and dropping to third overall.[231] In Stage 3 Konyshev once again came second in the final sprint, this time gaining enough time to take the leaders jersey and enough points to take the Points jersey also.[232][233] With one kilometer to go in Stage 4, four riders went up the road winning by five seconds over the peloton where Konyshev finished second. He lost his lead in the race to Davide Rebellin (Liquigas–Pata) and then sat three seconds down.[234] Stage 5 was in Individual time trial where Konyshev did not finish in the top 10 but kept his lead in the points classification.[235] Konyshev crashed out of the race on Stage 5 while in the points jersey.[236] The next race was cycling monument Milan–San Remo. Konyshev was amongst the favorites at the end of the race only to be caught in a large crash in the final kilometer.[237] He eventually crossed the line in 120th and after being assessed by doctors was found to have a fractured radius. He did not race again until the end of April.[238]
His first race back after injury was the Amstel Gold Race where he did not finish the race.[239] Two days later he rode the Giro del Trentino in support of Francesco Casagrande who won the race overall.[240] The next good result for Konyshev was fifth in Stage 5 of the Tour de Romandie.[241]
Konyshev only rode one Grand Tour in 2001 the Giro d'Italia where he was there to try defend his Points jersey from the 2000 Giro d'Italia.[242] He achieved two top 10 results in the race. He placed eighth in Stage 8 in a bunch sprint.[243] In Stage 19 he came fifth in the bunch sprint at the end. This would be the closest he would come to a Giro Stage win this year.[244]
Following the Giro he went to Switzerland to race the Tour de Suisse. On stage 5 of the race Konyshev was in the break of the day staying there until the first pass of Saint-Gotthard Massif where he accelerated away from his breakaway companions. With 5 km to go his lead was 5 minutes. By the finish his lead had been reduced to 1' 57" but he won the stage[245] and also pulled on the Mountain jersey after taking 90 points in the stage. He had spent 195 km of the 220 km stage at the front of the group.[246] The final Stage of the race, Stage 10, was 175.9 km long. Konyshev was in a break with five other riders who stayed away the whole stage with Konyshev leading the sprint to the line only to finish fourth. His 90 points in Stage 5 allowed him to hold the Mountain jersey all the way to the end.[247]
Konyshev took his second victory at the Russian National Road Race Championships by attacking from a small group up the final climb, he won by 7 seconds.[248] The final stage-race that Konyshev rode in 2001 was the Volta a Portugal where he did not finish. It wasn't until September where he was unable to get back-to-back victories in the Giro della Romagna, he did manage to finish seventh in the sprint.[249] Konyshev missed the move in the final kilometers of Giro del Lazio but sprinted to third on the line. His final win of the season came at Coppa Sabatini a race he won in 1999.[250]
The final season at Fassa Bortolo[251] for Konyshev was his worst season since he turned professional in 1989 he did not record a single win.
Konyshev started his season at the Vuelta a Andalucía where he was very active in the breakaway eventually finishing 128th overall.[252]
He came close a few times in the season with three top fives in stages and a further two top 10s in one-day races. In his second race of the season the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana he sprinted to second behind teammate Alessandro Petacchi.[253] A fourth at Stage 2 of Volta a Catalunya.[254] His final top five placing came at the Giro della Provincia di Lucca where he came fifth in the sprint of Stage 3.[255]
The two one day events Konyshev did well in were; Eschborn–Frankfurt where he placed ninth in the bunch sprint.[256] His final top 10 came at Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato where he sprinted to seventh.[257]
The 2002 Giro d'Italia was the last Grand Tour for Konyshev, 13 years after he first rode the giro in 1989. In Stage 2 Konyshev crashed in the final 2 km he was not injured badly and finished the stage over three minutes down.[258][259] During stage 4 he got in a break-away with Daniele Contrini and stayed away for 90 km only caught with 30 km to go, Konyshev finished 189th on the stage over 13 minutes down.[260] Konyshev finished the Giro in 103 place overall over two hours down on winner Paolo Savoldelli.[261]
After three years at Fassa Bortolo Konyshev joined second division team Marlux–Wincor Nixdorf. His first race was in Italy the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi he finished in 64th. Konyshev had a pinched nerve in his back so spent a few months early in the season off his bike.[262] At 37 years of age Konyshev was the Road captain of the team. While riding for team leader Dave Bruylandts at Schynberg Rundfahrt Konyshev managed to finished seventh on the hilly course.[263] His final good result of the season came at the Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese where he was once again helping Bruylandts and he finished seventh.[264]
To start the 2004 season Konyshev joined LPR–Piacenza a new Second division Italian team.[265] Konyshev ended his drought of no wins for the past two years.
Konyshev was arrested in January for allegedly assaulting and robbing a prostitute in Italy.[266] Two of his teammates, Ruslan Pidhornyy and Yuriy Ivanov, were dropped from the team due to the incident while Konyshev and Andrey Karpachev were still part of the team.[267] All four riders missed the team presentation in Piacenza as the team had them suspended at the time.[268]
Konyshev was cleared by the team to start his 2004 season at Trofeo Laigueglia where he finished 32nd in the mass bunch sprint.[269] In March the old Konyshev came to light with a third place at Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria.[270] Followed by seventh at Stausee-Rundfahrt Klingnau.[271] Then in April at the Tour du Lac Léman ended his drought and took his first win in over two years from a reduced bunch sprint.[272]
His good season did not end there with a third placing in another sprint at Giro di Toscana.[273] At the Vuelta a Asturias Konyshev won the bunch sprint behind solo winner Carlos Barredo on Stage 3.[274] The following month he rode another Spanish Stage-race the Euskal Bizikleta where after struggling to keep up with the peloton on the first three stages he won the mass bunch sprint of Stage 4a taking his second win of the season.[275]
Following this race, he only rode one-day races for the remainder of the season. The first was Giro d'Oro where he placed fourth.[276] At Coppa Sabatini he sprinted to tenth in a reduced bunch which finished behind a trio led by Jan Ullrich.[277] His final race of the 2004 season was the Road race at the UCI Road World Championships where he placed 25th winning the sprint of the peloton.[278]
Remaining with LPR–Piacenza for a second season,[279] Konyshev started the year at the Grand Prix La Marseillaise where he did not finish. As a UCI Professional Continental team LPR–Piacenza was able to get invites to UCI World Tour events. One such event was Milan–San Remo where Konyshev had finished seventh in 1995. This year he finished in 115 coming home over seven minutes down on the winner.[280]
The first race where Konyshev had some good results was Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali he was considered a strong rider by Cyclingnews.com in their preview for the race.[281] During Stage 1a of the race Konyshev attacked and went solo off the front. He held the peloton off until the last lap of the course where he was caught and managed to finish 44th. He did however pull on the King of the Mountains jersey for most mountain points.[282] After missing the breakaway on stage 2 Konyshev made it on Stage 3 where he won the mountain sprint putting him back into the lead of the KOM classification.[283] After five stages of racing Konyshev as still in the lead of the Mountains classification so took home the green KOM jersey.[284]
Two days later he rode the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria where he placed ninth in the bunch sprint. In May he raced the Giro di Toscana where he placed fourth while teammate Mikhaylo Khalilov placed second.[285] He would not feature in results until the Vuelta a Asturias in mid-June. Konyshev won the first stage from a reduced peloton on the hilly course.[286] He held the leaders jersey after the Stage 2 mass sprint where he finished third. When the race reached the hills in following stages Konyshev lost over 24 minutes before pulling out in Stage 5.
Konyshev extended his contract with LPR–Piacenza for one more year.[287]
Starting his final season as a professional Konyshev would be the second oldest cyclist in the peloton at 40 years of age.[288][289] His third and final year at Team LPR began at the Grand Prix La Marseillaise much like many of his other seasons. Konyshev finished two races and six stages over the 2006 season with his best result being 44th in Stage 2 of Étoile de Bessèges.[290]
Although he did not get good results he still rode in many prestigious races. He rode in Milan–San Remo where he placed 149th over nine minutes down.[291] Konyshev was the team's second leader in the race but ultimately he sacrificed himself for Mikhaylo Khalilov who placed 77th.[292]
Konyshev's final UCI ProTour race was the Tour de Romandie.[293] Konyshev was very active in the race although during the Stage 1 prologue he finished second to last losing 53 seconds to the winner.[294] During the second stage Konyshev attacked 26 km into the 169 km stage where he built a lead of over nine minutes after 76 km. After spending 120 km alone out in front he was caught by the Davitamon–Lotto led peloton. he finished the stage over four minutes down but would start the next day in the Mountains jersey.[295] Paying for his effort of Stage 2 Konyshev was in difficulty the whole stage finishing in last place 13 minutes down.[296] He would abandon the race on Stage 3 after suffering during the second stage.[297]
The final race of his career was the 2006 Paris–Roubaix.[298]
Following his retirement in 2006 Konyshev joined Tinkoff Credit Systems for two years as sports director.[299] He was part of the team which supported Alexandr Kolobnev in earning his silver medal in the UCI Road World Championships Men's road race.[300]
In 2009 he was made the head coach of the Russian National cycling team.[301]
Overall USSR Tour Overall Österreich-Rundfahrt
Overall Giro delle Regioni
Points classification
Overall Giro Ciclistico d'Italia
Points classification Overall Cronostafetta
Mountain classification, Tour of Belgium
Road race, UCI Road World Championships
Soviet National Road Race Championships
Road race, UCI Road World Championships
Road race, National Road Championships Overall Hofbrau Cup
Intergiro classification Points classification Mountains classification Volta a Catalunya
Points classification Road race, National Road Championships Mountains classification Mountain classification Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali| Grand Tour general classification results[305] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia |
DNF | 30 | — | — | 26 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 37 | 51 | — | 57 | 75 | 103 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Tour de France[306] |
— | 25 | 52 | DNF | — | — | DNF | — | — | DNF | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
/ Vuelta a España |
— | — | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Major stage race general classification results timeline | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | ||||
| Paris–Nice |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Tirreno–Adriatico |
— | — | 32 | — | — | 26 | 3 | — | — | DNF | DNF | 55 | DNF | 74 | — | — | — | — | ||||
 Volta a Catalunya |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | 41 | — | — | 51 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Tour of the Basque Country |
— | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Tour de Romandie |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 72 | 104 | 85 | 69 | 79 | — | — | — | — | DNF | ||||
 Critérium du Dauphiné |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Tour de Suisse |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Monuments by highest finishing position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monument[307] | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | — | — | 84 | 96 | 11 | 7 | — | 24 | 89 | — | 20 | 120 | 82 | — | — | 115 | 149 | |||||||
| Tour of Flanders | — | — | 26 | 16 | 24 | 12 | — | — | 27 | — | — | 13 | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| Paris–Roubaix | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | DNF | 25 | — | DNF | — | — | — | 104 | |||||||
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | — | — | 26 | 33 | — | 20 | — | 52 | — | — | 70 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | — | — | 9 | 4 | 19 | 12 | — | — | 5 | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| Championships results timeline | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||
| National Championships | |
2 | |
3 | 3 | |
7 | ||||||||||||||||||
 World Championships |
2 | 30 | — | 3 | 50 | 5 | 7 | DNF | 80 | — | 9 | DNF | DNF | 19 | 14 | 25 | — | — | |||||||
| Classics by highest finishing position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classic | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | NH | DNF | – | |||||||
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | – | – | – | – | NH | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | DNF | |||||||
| E3 Harelbeke | – | – | – | – | 24 | 24 | – | – | 69 | – | – | DNF | – | – | – | – | – | 75 | |||||||
| Gent–Wevelgem | – | 8 | – | – | – | 7 | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 26 | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| Amstel Gold Race | – | – | 77 | 3 | – | 12 | – | – | – | DNF | 37 | 48 | DNF | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| La Flèche Wallonne | – | – | 5 | 44 | 34 | 40 | 14 | – | 90 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| Clásica de San Sebastián | – | – | – | 4 | 64 | 16 | – | 47 | – | 66 | 35 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| Coppa Ugo Agostoni | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 40 | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| Paris–Tours | – | – | 23 | – | – | 17 | – | 31 | 81 | – | 72 | DNF | DNF | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| NH | Race not held |
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