Born and raised in Nizhny-Novgorod, Leonid Gribov was a former cyclocross russian talented star when one of the NJ procycling scouts found him racing. The manager rushed and secured the sign of Gribov, so he changed cyclocross for road cycling; his first season as professional was a complete success, having two results in the top division and showing strong personality to race.
He kept progressing and right at Season 42 he had a great year, debuting as captain in the national team and performing well in the Nederlandse Tour (9th overall) and 2nd in YC. Leonid was regular in the 3 next seasons and once again he rocked OCM at Season 46, with 6 victories and ending 3rd in the OCM Tour; but Season 47 in terms of numbers was the best for him, 13 results and his debut in Germany Tour (he won 2 stages and ended 2nd for the SC). At the end of the season, Leonid Gribov conquered the OCM Tour rank...
Read moreBorn and raised in Nizhny-Novgorod, Leonid Gribov was a former cyclocross russian talented star when one of the NJ procycling scouts found him racing. The manager rushed and secured the sign of Gribov, so he changed cyclocross for road cycling; his first season as professional was a complete success, having two results in the top division and showing strong personality to race.
He kept progressing and right at Season 42 he had a great year, debuting as captain in the national team and performing well in the Nederlandse Tour (9th overall) and 2nd in YC. Leonid was regular in the 3 next seasons and once again he rocked OCM at Season 46, with 6 victories and ending 3rd in the OCM Tour; but Season 47 in terms of numbers was the best for him, 13 results and his debut in Germany Tour (he won 2 stages and ended 2nd for the SC). At the end of the season, Leonid Gribov conquered the OCM Tour ranking.
Gribov stayed as one of the best cyclist during Season 48, winning classics like Besiktas-Fenerbahce-Galata, and other prestigious races such as Paris GP and Criterium Monaco, he raced Nederlandse Tour once again and ended 4th overall, finishing 11th in the OCM Tour.
Jonas Pro Cycling paid a good fee to hire the now experienced and famous Leonid at the beginning of Season 49, joining the best team of OCM with names like Alanzo Bonico, Miron Tredyakovsky, Armando Silveira and many others, all of them superstars. With his new team he finally won Hermanus-Cape Town after several attempts and made it back to the top 10 in the OCM Tour (6th). Season 50 was slightly different for Leonid, adapted to a new team and sadly with couple injuries that decreased his performance, but he managed to end 6th in Copa Salsa de Cali and some podiums.
At the beginning of Season 51, manager Jonas announced that team would stop racing, and all the cyclists, in a noble support, decided to follow his manager retiring from professional cycling. During 10 seasons, Leonid Gribov got 76 results, 27 victories and 33 participations in the national team. Despite his retire from road cycling, Leonid will spend his time racing in his hometown cyclocross circuit; enjoying his passion.
Russia