José Azevedo

José Azevedo
	File:Tour de l'Ain 2004 - José Azevedo.jpg
Personal information
Full name	José Bento Azevedo Carvalho
Nickname	The Ace
Born	September 19, 1973 (age 50); Vila do Conde, Portugal
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb; 9.6 st)
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)
1994–1995	Recer-Boavista
1996–2000	Maia-MSS
2001–2003	ONCE–Eroski
2004–2006	U.S. Postal Service
2007-2008	Benfica
Managerial team(s)
From 2014	Team Katusha
Major wins
	Deutschland Tour, 1 stage; Individual Time Trial Champion (2001)
	Infobox last updated on; July 21, 2006

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José Bento Azevedo Carvalho (born 19 September 1973 in Vila do Conde) is a Portuguese retired road racing cyclist. As of 2010, he is also a team manager with Team Katusha. During his racing career, Azevedo rode for ONCE–Eroski between 2001 and 2003 and for U.S. Postal Service between 2004 and 2006.

Career

Azevedo's principal career successes have been fifth overall at the 2001 Giro d'Italia, sixth overall at the 2002 Tour de France and fifth overall at the 2004 Tour de France. He also made a second place in the Germany Tour, just behind Michael Rogers. He won the queen-stage of the German competition.

Until 2005 he was a renowned domestique; his primary role was to serve as Lance Armstrong's lieutenant in mountain stages, specifically stages in the Pyrenees Mountains. Lance Armstrong described him as the best lieutenant he has ever had. Nicknamed "The Ace", he moved to US Postal (which became the now-defunct Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) from Team ONCE (also defunct) in 2004.

In 2006 Azevedo wore the #1 background during the Tour de France and he claimed the highest finish in the general classification amongst his Discovery Channel teammates. Azevedo finished 18th overall, 37 minutes and 11 seconds behind race winner Óscar Pereiro, following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis.

To be able to spend more time with his family, Azevedo opted for a home team. He became the leader of the Benfica cycling team and aimed to win the Tour of Portugal. Azevedo finished his career at the end of the Tour of Portugal 2008.

Later, in the 2012 USADA Report into doping on the U.S Postal cycling team, it was determined Azevedo received a blood transfusion during the 2004 Tour de France based on testimony from Floyd Landis and others.^[1]

Today he is the team manager of Team Katusha.