Yevgeny Klevtsov

When Yevgeny Klevtsov was 18-years-old he was working as a mechanic in the local machine and tractor workshop in Oboyan. As Klevtsov had built his own bicycle from scrap metal, the district sports committee requested that he competed in the regional cycling championships. With no training or previous experience he surprised everyone by winning the race, setting a record time in the process. He followed this win with victory at the All-Russian Rural Games in the southern city of Pyatigorsk.

Klevtsov joined the CSKA Moskva team and became the Soviet champion in the 100 kilometres team race at the national championships in 1950 and 1952. These performances earned him a place on the Olympic team for the 1952 Games in Helsinki where he was named as the team captain. The race, however, was a disaster for the Soviet team. Klevtsov initially dropped behind the lead group to help his teammate Nikolay Bobarenko, who was struggling. Bobarenko insisted that Klevtsov should leave him behind and for him to catch up with the other two Soviet riders. He eventually did, but they were both involved in a crash late into the race and were forced to retire. With only Klevtsov left, he carried on alone to finish 40th, almost 20 minutes behind the winner. As the team leader he took the full brunt of the blame for the team’s failure and the embarrassment the performance caused back home.

Despite what had happened in 1952, Klevtsov was selected to go to the 1956 Games in Melbourne but refused to go as he was terrified of being at sea for long periods of time. The USSR team coaches where sympathetic to him, granting his request not to attend. During the 1950s Klevtsov continued to train hard and win multiple races in the Soviet Union, including multiple stages of the Tour of the USSR, the overall classification at the Tour of Sochi, and several national titles. In 1960 he got one more opportunity to compete at the Olympics when he went to the Roma Games, once again as the team captain. Finally the Soviet cyclists had some success, with Klevtsov working with his fellow riders to win bronze in the 100 kilometres team time trial. Four days later his compatriot Viktor Kapitonov won gold in the individual road race, with Klevtsov finishing 20 seconds behind in the main peloton of riders. He retired soon after the Roma Games and worked as a technician for the CSKA team.