Astana is ready for Tour Down Under and they showed it today. Astana Pro Team rider Jacopo Guarnieri finished 9 seconds behind People’s Choice Classics winner Marcel Kittel of Germany on Sunday in Adelaide.

Guarnieri finished in the leading group with 10 other riders and the scene was settled for a final sprint. Marcel Kittel was the strongest and he finished in front of another German sprinter Andre Greipel. Caleb Ewan took the 3rd place on the podium.

"The season is now open, and we have started to race here in Australia with a good team for the next week. It was very fast today, and our competition was with some Aussie criterium specialists and the best sprinters in the world. I felt good, Agnoli and Grivko were with me to the finish after the split, and we had Gavazzi, Huffman and Westra on the front early to chase down the attacks. The crowds were very big and the weather was much cooler than last week. We are ready for the Tour Down Under to start," Guarnieri said.

SD Stefano Zanini thinks the team is lining up with a strong squad for the Tour Down Under and they can do well.

"We have all the elements for a very strong squad in Adelaide. It has been very, very hot the past week, but now the weather has changed and it is more like a normal summer. Westra and the rest of the riders are all in very good shape and I think we have a team that can do well at the Tour Down Under," said Astana Pro Team Director Sportif Stefano Zanini.

Astana Tour Down Under roster:

Valerio Agnoli, Enrico Gasparotto, Francesco Gavazzi, Jacopo Guarnieri, Andrei Grivko,  Evan Huffman and Lieuwe Westra.