2,140 articles
Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi (Il Dottore, number 46), Italian motorcycle racer born 1979 in Urbino; nine Grand Prix world titles across 125, 250, 500, and MotoGP, 115 GP wins, later a BMW M works GT driver and VR46 team owner.
Valery Chaplygin
Valery Chaplygin (Валерий Андреевич Чаплыгин), born 1952 in Kursk, Soviet road cyclist; 1976 Olympic gold in the 100 km team time trial (2:08:53), 1977 world champion, Peace Race team winner 1975, 1977, 1980.
Valery Likhachov
Valery Likhachov (Валерий Николаевич Лихачëв, born 1947) is a Soviet road cyclist, 1972 Munich Olympic gold medalist in the 100 km team time trial and 1970 world champion in the same event.
Valery Movchan
Valery Movchan (Валерий Иванович Мовчан), born 1959, Soviet track cyclist; Olympic team pursuit gold at Moscow 1980 (4:15.70) and 1982 world champion at Leicester; ex-husband of gymnast Nelli Kim.
Valery Yardy
Valery Yardy (Валерий Николаевич Ярды, 1948–1994), Soviet road cyclist from Chuvashia; Olympic gold in the 1972 Munich 100 km team time trial and 1970 world champion in the same event.
Vallelunga
Vallelunga (Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi) is a permanent racing circuit near Campagnano di Roma, north of Rome. Sand oval from 1951, Taruffi-designed asphalt 1957, ACI-owned since 1967, extended to 4.085 km in 2005.
Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas, Finnish F1 driver (born 1989), races for Cadillac in 2026. Former Williams and Mercedes racer with 10 wins, 67 podiums, 20 poles, and 1,797 points; 2019 championship runner-up.
Varano de Melegari
Varano de Melegari (Autodromo Riccardo Paletti) is a permanent FIA Grade 3 racing circuit in Parma province, Italy, founded 1969, current 2,350 m anticlockwise track, renamed 1983 for driver Riccardo Paletti.
Vasil Kiryienka (Василий Кириенко)
Vasil Kiryienka (Васіль Кірыенка), Belarusian cyclist born 1981, 2008 track points race world champion, 2015 road time trial world champion, Giro and Vuelta stage winner, Sky/Ineos domestique, retired 2020 for cardiac reasons.
Veda Pratama
Veda Ega Pratama is an Indonesian motorcycle racer competing in the 2026 Moto3 World Championship for Honda Team Asia, the first Indonesian on a Grand Prix podium.
Velo Citta
Velo Citta (Autódromo Velo Città, Velocitta) is a permanent FIA Grade 3 racing circuit opened in 2012 in Mogi Guaçu, São Paulo, Brazil; 3.493 km, 14 turns, 45 m elevation, hosts Stock Car Pro Series.
Velodrome
Velodrome: a banked oval track stadium for track cycling on fixed-gear, brakeless bikes, also called a cycling track or piste. Standard UCI length 250 m, wood favored indoors, homologated in categories; examples include Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Manchester.
Veronica Ivy
Veronica Ivy, formerly Rachel McKinnon, is a Canadian philosopher and transgender athlete who won UCI Masters track cycling world sprint titles in 2018 and 2019, the first trans woman to win a cycling world title, and now competes in Canadian amateur golf.
Vicki Butler-Henderson
Vicki Butler-Henderson (Victoria Jemma Butler-Henderson), British racing driver and TV presenter of Top Gear and Fifth Gear; karting from age 12, first woman to win a Maserati race (2004).
Victor Johnson
Victor Louis Johnson (1883-1951), English track cyclist for Birmingham Rover CC; won the 660-yard sprint gold at the 1908 London Olympics and the world amateur sprint title at Leipzig, plus six NCU championships.
Victoria Pendleton
Victoria Louise "Vicki" Pendleton, British track cyclist born 1980, two Olympic golds (sprint 2008, keirin 2012, first women's Olympic keirin champion) and nine world titles; later a jockey.
Viktor Kapitonov
Viktor Kapitonov (Виктор Арсеньевич Капитонов, 1933–2005) was a Soviet road cyclist from Tver who won the 1960 Rome Olympic road race, the first Olympic cycling gold for a Soviet rider, after sprinting a lap early; he also won 100 km team time trial bronze and later coached Soviet road teams to three Olympic titles.
Viktor Manakov
Viktor Manakov (Виктор Викторович Манаков) names two cyclists: a Soviet track rider (1960–2019), 1980 Olympic and 1987 world team pursuit champion, and his son (born 1992), a Russian road and track pro, 2013 European omnium champion.
Vilkyciai Ax
Vilkyciai Ax (Vilkyčių autokroso trasa) is an FIA Grade 6A autocross circuit in Šilutė District, Lithuania: 1.063 km loose-surface lap, founded 1987 on a former quarry, part of the Vilkyčiai rallycross-autocross complex.
Vilkyciai Rx
Vilkyčiai RX (Vilkyciai Rx) is an FIA Grade 6R rallycross circuit in Šilutė District, Lithuania, with an 872 m lap of 45% gravel and 55% tarmac, hosting Latvian-Lithuanian, Baltic, and FIA European autocross events.
Vincenzo Nibali
Vincenzo Nibali (Lo Squalo dello Stretto), Italian road cyclist born 1984 in Messina; won all three Grand Tours (Vuelta 2010, Giro 2013/2016, Tour 2014) plus three Monuments, retired 2022 with 54-59 wins.
Virginio Pizzali
Virginio Pizzali (1934-2021), Italian track cyclist, 1956 Melbourne Olympic team pursuit gold medalist who never received a medal after a first-round collarbone fracture; four-time Italian stayer champion and 1957 world stayer titleholder.
Vitaly Petrakov
Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrakov (Виталий Александрович Петраков), born 1954 in Tula, Soviet track cyclist; team pursuit gold at Moscow 1980 (4:15.70), silver at Montreal 1976, and four world championship silvers (1975, 1978, 1979, 1981); retired 1981.
Vittoria Guazzini
Vittoria Guazzini, born 2000 in Pontedera, Italy, is an Italian road and track cyclist who won Olympic Madison gold at Paris 2024 with Chiara Consonni.
Vladimir Osokin
Vladimir Yuryevich Osokin (Владимир Юрьевич Осокин), born 1954 in Leningrad, Soviet track cyclist; Olympic team pursuit gold 1980 and silver 1976, five world championship silvers; distinct from the Ukrainian mining engineer and other namesakes.
Vladimir Semenets
Vladimir Semenets (Владимир Иванович Семенец), born 1950 in Volsk, is a Soviet track cyclist who won the final Olympic tandem sprint gold at Munich 1972 with Igor Tselovalnikov, later a world silver medalist and coach.
VR46 Racing Team
VR46 Racing Team (Pertamina Enduro VR46) is Valentino Rossi's Tavullia-based MotoGP team, a Ducati Factory Supported Team since 2025, renewed through 2029, with riders Di Giannantonio and Morbidelli in 2026 and Aldeguer and Bulega from 2027.
Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España (La Vuelta), Spain's Grand Tour stage race, first held 1935, now 21 stages each August-September; red jersey for the time classification leader, organized by Unipublic; 2026 winner Enric Mas.
Vyacheslav Yekimov
Vyacheslav Yekimov (Вячеслав Екимов), born 1966 in Vyborg, Soviet/Russian cyclist; three Olympic golds (1988 team pursuit, 2000 and 2004 time trial), six world titles, 15 Tours de France, later Russian federation president.
W Series (championship)
W Series: all-female single-seater motor racing championship (2019-2023) using Tatuus T-318 cars, won three times by Jamie Chadwick, an F1 support series from 2021, ended in administration June 2023 and succeeded by F1 Academy.