Bulgarian racing cyclist
Ivailo Gabrovski (Bulgarian: Ивайло Габровски; born January 31, 1978) is a Bulgarian former racing cyclist. He holds the record for most Tour of Bulgaria wins, which he won 5 times.[1][2]
Career
Gabrovski was born in Sofia. In April 2012, he won the third stage of the Tour of Turkey. Racing for Turkish Continental team Konya–Torku Şekerspor, Gabrovski accelerated 8 kilometers from the finish line in the first mountain top finish stage in the race's history. He went on to win solo, with a gap of 1 minute and 29 seconds to his nearest competitor, Alexsandr Dyachenko of Astana. With that win, he took the leader's jersey,[3][4] which he held for the rest of the race to take the overall title.[5] Later that year he lost his title since he tested positive for EPO.
Gabrovski speaks French fluently, a skill that he attributes to his beginnings in professional cycling, where he was part of the Jean Delatour team.[3]
Doping
In 2003 he was prevented from racing the 3 Days of West Flanders when he came in over the hematocrit limit. In 2005, he was prevented from riding the world championship in Madrid after failing a blood test conducted by the UCI. He claimed at that time that being an athlete, his body was producing more red blood cells than the average person.
In 2012, Gabrovski tested positive for EPO at that year's Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, which he won.[6][7] He was banned for two years and lost the title. Alexsandr Dyachenko, who had finished second, was awarded the victory.[8]
