José Azevedo

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**José Azevedo**
Personal information
Full name	José Azevedo
Nickname	The Ace
Date of birth	September 19, 1973 (age 33)
Country	Portugal
Team information
Current team	Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)
1994-1995 1996-2000 2001-2003 2004 2005-2006 2007-	Recer-Boavista Maia-MSS ONCE U.S. Postal Service Discovery Channel Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Major wins
1 stage Deutschland Tour 3x Portuguese Individual Time Trial Champion

Infobox last updated on:
December 11, 2006

José Azevedo (born 19 September 1973 in Vila do Conde) is a Portuguese professional road racing cyclist. In 2006, he rides for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team on the UCI ProTour.

His principal career successes have been fifth overall at the 2001 Giro d'Italia, sixth overall at the 2002 Tour de France and fifth overall at the 2004 Tour de France.

Until the year of 2005 he was a renowned domestique, that is to say, his primary role was to serve as Lance Armstrong's lieutenant in mountain stages, specifically, stages which take place in the Pyrenees Mountains. Nicknamed 'the Ace', he moved to US Postal (now Discovery) from the now-defunct Team ONCE in 2004.

He wore the number 1 jersey at the 2006 Tour de France. Normally, jersey numbers ending with the number 1 are assigned to the leaders of Tour de France teams, and the remaining numbers (ending in 2 through 9) are given to the rest of the team in alphabetical order. Following the retirement of 2005's winner, Discovery Channel's longtime leader Lance Armstrong, the cycling team adopted a "leaderless approach" to the 2006 Tour, assigning all their numbers, 1 through 9, according to alphabetical order. Azevedo was first on the team in alphabetical order, therefore, he was given the number 1 usually assigned to the leader.

Azevedo claimed the highest finish in the general classification amongst his Discovery Channel teammates in the 2006 Tour de France, finishing 19th overall, 38 minutes and 8 seconds behind race winner Floyd Landis.

To be able to spend more time with his family, the Portuguese rider opted for a smaller home team, Benfica, for the 2007 season.