Andrey Amador

Andrey Amador
	Amador at the 2011 Tour de France.
Personal information
Full name	Andrey Amador Bikkazakova
Born	29 August 1986 (age 35); Alajuela, Costa Rica
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
Team information
Current team	Ineos Grenadiers
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Amateur teams
2005–2006	BCR–Pizza Hut–KHS
2006	Viña Magna–Cropu
2007–2008	Lizarte
Professional teams
2009–2019	Caisse d'Epargne
2020–	Team Ineos
Major wins
	Grand Tour Giro d'Italia 1 individual stage (2012) Vuelta a España 1 TTT stage (2014)
show Medal record
World Championships
Representing Movistar Team

Andrey Amador Bikkazakova (born 29 August 1986) is a Costa Rican professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers.^[5]

Career[]

Amador at the 2015 Giro d'Italia

Amador is the son of Rodolfo Amador, a Costa Rican and Raisa Bikkazakova, a Russian immigrant who arrived in the country after meeting and marrying Amador's father. He is the youngest of three brothers. He started cycling professionally at the age of 20 in 2006, but started cycling at a very early age.^[6] Amador was selected to carry the flag for Costa Rica at the 2011 Pan American Games opening ceremony.^[7] He is the first Costa Rican to ever ride the Tour de France. In 2012, Amador won a mountainous stage 14 in the Giro d'Italia after breaking away from the group during the final descent right before the final climb. Though he was caught right at the finish of the climb he won the sprint in the end. In 2013, he finished 8th overall in the Tirreno-Adriatico.

In the 2016 Giro d'Italia, Amador held the pink jersey after stage 13. He became the first Costa Rican to lead a Grand Tour.^[8]

At the end of the 2019 season, Amador sought to break an agreement that he had in place with the Movistar Team for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, in order to join Team Ineos.^[9] The contract negotiations were not resolved until Amador was released by the Movistar Team on 11 February 2020. Amador signed a three-year deal with Team Ineos the following day, with his first race start scheduled to come at the UAE Tour in the final week of February.^[4]