In 2000, Vinokourov joined . He won the combination competition in Paris–Nice and finished third in the Critérium International. He came 15th in the Tour de France after working for captain Jan Ullrich. His first win for the German team was stage 18 in the Vuelta a España, in which he caught the two riders in the breakaway and sprinted past Roberto Laiseka and Vicente Garcia Acosta in the last 300 metres. He came second several weeks later in the Olympic Games behind Ullrich and in front of another Telekom teammate, Andreas Kloden.