If you can name one rider in the peloton who divides cycling punters and professionals down the middle then, outside of the outspoken Mark Cavendish, it has to be Alexandre Vinokourov.
The Kazakhstan powerhouse made a name for himself with a series of impressive performances in road races around the world, only for his 2007 Tour campaign to end in shame when he was found guilty of doping.
Back riding again for the Astana team that threatened to dominate the sport before his fall from grace, the 37-year-old not always affectionately known as "Vino" is looking to make his mark again after a 16th place finish in the general classification last time out.
Vino profited from his country's new independence, his promising amateur career leading professional teams to try him out - Agrigel-La Creuse trying him out successfully before he signed for Casino in 1998.
Six race wins in his first paid year in the saddle made the cycling world sit up and take notice, a 1999 Criterium du Dauphine Libere victory leading many experts to tip him as a future Tour contender.
Team Telekom swooped for him in 2000, the all-round charger nicking a stage win at the Vuelta and Tour de Suisse alongside a superb silver Road Race medal at the Sydney Olympics behind Jan Ullrich.
He continued to nab smaller race wins the next two years, before he finally got his Tour de France act together to finish third overall in 2003 on the back of a Stage Nine victory.
T-Mobile came calling next, Vino claiming third in the 2004 UCI Road World Championships Time Trial with two stage wins and fifth place overall in the 2005 Tour enhancing his reputation further.
He finally got Kazakhstan sponsorship backing through the Astana team in 2006, which saw him repeat the 2004 World result and hold off Alejandro Valverde for a tremendous overall Vuelta victory - his first.
A points win in the 2007 Criterium du Dauphine Libere set him up for a Tour tilt, only for a bad fall to set him back in the first week. Time trial and Stage 15 wins got him right back in contention.
Sadly for Vino, Astana and the cycling world in general, he failed a dope test forcing his team out of the Tour completely and Vinokourov into the wilderness until his return in August 2009.
Victories in 2010 at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Giro del Trentino, followed by an impressive win on the 2010 Tour stage 13, mean that, despite his chequered Tour past, Vino is still a dangerman.