Raimondas Rumšas

Raimondas Rumšas
Personal information
Full name Raimondas Rumšas
Born January 14, 1972
Šilutė, Lithuania
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Professional team(s)
19961999 Mróz
20002001 Fassa Bortolo
20022003 Lampre-Farnese Vini
2004 Acqua & Sapone
Major wins
Giro di Lombardia
3rd place 2002 Tour de France
Infobox last updated on
April 21, 2009

Raimondas Rumšas (born 14 January 1972 in Šilutė, Lithuania) is a retired professional road bicycle racer. He came third in the 2002 Tour de France but was implicated in a doping scandal.

Doping

On the day of Rumšas' third place finish in the 2002 Tour de France, police discovered corticoids, erythropoietin, testosterone, growth hormones and anabolic steroids in the car of his wife, Edita Rumšienė.[1] She was jailed for several months before being released, despite her claim that the drugs were for her mother-in-law.

In May 2003 Rumšas tested positive for the banned endurance enhancer erythropoietin (EPO).[2] He had just finished the 2003 Giro d'Italia, where he ranked sixth. Rumšas received a one-year ban. He briefly returned to cycling in 2004 with Acqua & Sapone team for the Gran Premio Città di Camaiore.[3]

In June 2005, Rumšas was arrested before his trial by the Bonneville court.[4] In January 2006, he and his wife received a four-month suspended prison sentences for the import of prohibited doping substances. Polish doctor Krzysztof Ficek was handed a 12-month suspended sentence for prescribing the drugs.[4]

Results

1999 Mroz
1st Semana Lombarda + stage win
1st Karkonoze Tour + stage win
2nd The Peace Race + stage win
Stage 4 - PruTour
2000 Fassa Bortolo
1st Overall Giro di Lombardia
9th Overall Tour de Romandie
5th Overall Vuelta a España
2001 Fassa Bortolo
2nd Overall, Paris–Nice
7th Overall, Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali
3rd Overall, Giro del Trentino
1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st, Stage 5b
6th Overall, Liège-Bastogne-Liège
2nd Overall, Giro dell'Appennino
1st Lithuanian Championship
1st Baltic Championship
2002 Lampre-Farnese Vini
2nd Overall Bicicleta Vasca
3rd Overall Tour de France
2003 Lampre-Farnese Vini
6th Overall Giro d'Italia
2005
1st Lithuanian Time Trial Championship
2nd Lithuanian Championship

Grand Tour General classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2000 2001 2002 2003
Giro 6
Tour 3
Vuelta 5

WD = withdrew

References

  1. Daley, Kieran (2002-07-31). "Cycling: Rumsas' wife charged over drugs haul". The Independent.
  2. "Cycling's rocky road". BBC. 2004-02-15.
  3. Fabio (2004-08-04). "55th GP Cittá di Camaiore (1.2): Updated". Daily Peloton.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Rumsas receives suspended sentence". CNN.com. 2006-01-26.
Awards
Preceded by
Lithuania Rasa Polikevičiūtė
Best Lithuanian sportsman of the Year
2002
Succeeded by
Lithuania Šarūnas Jasikevičius

External links