Having been upset by former team rider Andrey Mizurov in the time trial championships, the Astana team got back on track with a win in the Kazakh road race championships to ensure that the champion's jersey remains firmly on the shoulders of one of its riders. Alexandr Dyachenko continued his recent upwards trajectory as he took home his first ever national road race crown.
It came as a huge surprise to the Astana team when the mighty squad was unable to bring home the win in Thursday's Kazakh time trial championships, having been defeated by former rider Andrey Mizourov. The rider to get closest to Mizourov's time was Astana rider Alexandr Dyachenko and today he was out to take revenge and ensure that the national road race crown stayed inside Astana's ranks as it has been the case ever since the squad's foundation with 2009 being a notable exception.
Dyachenko did not disappoint as the talented Kazakh climber brought home his first ever national road race title. The success comes on the heels of his best ever season which recently saw him finish 11th at the Tour de Suisse. In April he was part of a dominant Astana performance at the Giro de Trentino where he finished 14th despite offering some solid support for eventual winner Vincenzo Nibali.
Dyachenko will now take the title back to central Europe as he next takes aim at the Tour of Austria which is perfectly suited to his versatile stage racing abilities.
2nd place was taken by Sergey Renev from the Astana Continental team who despite a 4-year stint at the team was unable to secure a new contract with the ProTeam prior to this season. His young 20-year old teammate Tilegen Maidos who recently finished an impressive 9th at the Tour of Slovenia completed the podium.
Result:
1. Alexandr Dyachenko
2. Sergey Renev
3. Tilegen Maidos
Patrick WEBER 36 years | today |
Shuo LIU 27 years | today |
Philip HANDL 28 years | today |
Lulu TELEKELO 31 years | today |
Juliette LAROSE GINGRAS 22 years | today |
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