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

Raimondas Rumšas
Personal information
Full nameRaimondas Rumšas
Born (1972-01-14) January 14, 1972 (age 52)
Šilutė, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight140 lb (64 kg)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Professional teams
1996–1999Mróz
2000–2001Fassa Bortolo
2002–2003Lampre-Farnese Vini
2004Acqua & Sapone
Major wins
Stage races
Tour of the Basque Country (2001)

One-day races and Classics

Giro di Lombardia (2000)
National Road Race Championships
(2001)
National Time Trial Championships
(1999, 2005)

Doping

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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 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]

Major results

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1992
2nd Overall Tour de Pologne
1st Stage 3
1994
1st   Overall Course de Solidarność et des Champions Olympiques
1996
3rd Overall Course de Solidarność et des Champions Olympiques
1st Stage 3
9th Overall Tour de Pologne
9th Route Adélie de Vitré
1997
4th Overall Course de Solidarność et des Champions Olympiques
1st Stage 5
9th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
1998
National Road Championships
2nd Road race
3rd Time trial
2nd Overall Hessen Rundfahrt
1st Stage 4
4th Overall Course de Solidarność et des Champions Olympiques
5th Overall Tour de Pologne
7th Overall Peace Race
1st Stages 1 & 4
7th Lancaster Classic
9th Road race, UCI Road World Road Championships
1999
National Road Championships
1st   Time trial
4th Road race
1st Stage 5 Circuit des Mines
2nd Overall Peace Race
1st Stage 3
3rd Overall Giro della Provincia di Lucca
4th Overall Tour de Pologne
1st Stages 6 & 7
5th Overall PruTour
1st Stage 4
2000
1st Giro di Lombardia
2nd Coppa Bernocchi
4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
5th Overall Vuelta a España
5th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
9th Overall Tour de Romandie
2001
National Road Championships
1st   Road race
3rd Time trial
1st   Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st Stage 5b (ITT)
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Giro dell'Appennino
3rd Overall Giro del Trentino
3rd Overall Route du Sud
3rd Gran Premio di Chiasso
6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
7th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
9th Trofeo Laigueglia
2002
2nd Overall Bicicleta Vasca
3rd Overall Tour de France
2003
1st Stage 1b (TTT) Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
6th Overall Giro d'Italia
2005
National Road Championships
1st   Time trial
2nd Road race
2006
National Road Championships
2nd Road race
2nd Time trial

Grand Tour General classification results timeline

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Grand Tour 2000 2001 2002 2003
  Giro d'Italia  6 
  Tour de France 3
  Vuelta a España 5
Legend
Did not compete
No. Voided result

References

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  1. ^ Daley, Kieran (2002-07-31). "Cycling: Rumsas' wife charged over drugs haul". The Independent.[dead link]
  2. ^ "Cycling's rocky road". BBC. 2004-02-15.
  3. ^ Fabio (2004-08-04). "55th GP Cittá di Camaiore (1.2): Updated". Daily Peloton. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  4. ^ a b "Rumsas receives suspended sentence". CNN.com. 2006-01-26.
Awards
Preceded by Best Lithuanian sportsman of the Year
2002
Succeeded by
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  NODES
INTERN 2
Note 1