Aleksandr Averin

A road sprinter, Aleksandr Averin competed for the Soviet Union in the road race at the 1976 Olympics. That year he had been Soviet champion on the road, but placed only 17th at Montréal. Averin raced through the 1980 season, but was not selected for the Moscow Olympics. He rode the Tour de l’Avenir in 1978-80, winning the points classification in both 1978 and 1979, placing second in 1979. Averin’s greatest victory came in 1978 when he won the Peace Race. He also rode that race, considered the Eastern European equivalent of the Tour de France in that era, in 1977 and 1979, finishing 21st in 1977 and 28th in 1979. In 1977 Averin also placed second at the Tour of Cuba. His best year, however, was 1978 as, in addition to his victories at the Peace Race and Tour de l’Avenir, he won the Leningrad-Tallinn Race, was second in the Tour of Krym, and won his second and final title in the criterium. Averin later settled in Odesa, Ukraine and is a cycling coach. His son, Maksim Averin, is also a cyclist, who represents Ukraine and whose best result has been second at the Trofeo Edil in 2011.