Astana Lastest news
Tirreno-Adriatico. Stage 3. First test for climbers in Trevi
The longest stage of the 53rd edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico has been held today in Italy. The riders passed 239 km from Follonica to the small town of Trevi on the top of a beautiful hill. Stage 3 of the race included 4 categorized climbs, including the wall of Trevi, passed for two times. Ahead of tomorrow’s queen stage, today’s race was like the first test for climbers.
The decisive attack came from the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, who made his move with around 1,2 km to go. Nobody could follow Roglic inside the final kilometer of tough climb (with a maximum gradient of 20%), thus he became the winner of stage 3. The Britton Adam Yates and the Belgian Tiesj Benoot completed the podium with second and third places, losing 3 and 6 seconds, respectively.
Astana Team did a good stage during this long day, but, maybe, it was too long for Miguel Angel Lopez.
- I felt quite good today, but, of course, it was a very long day in the saddle. When we passed the final climb for the first time, I was OK, and my teammates did a great job to hold me in front of the group. But, inside the final kilometer I felt a bit tired and could not answer the move of the other rivals. Yeah, it was a short and very steep climb, but more climbs will come in the next days. In general, everything is good, so let’s see if tomorrow we can do better, - explained Miguel Angel Lopez.
The Kazakh rider of Astana Alexey Lutsenko did a strong race and became the best team’s performer with 22th position, 28 seconds behind the winner. Miguel Angel Lopez finished 26th, 36 seconds after Roglic.
The Britton Geraint Thomas took the lead in the general classification of the race, while Alexey Lutsenko moved up to 24th place (+1.05). Miguel Angel Lopez is currently 25th (+1.13).
The hardest stage of the race will be held tomorrow: it will be a 219-km long stage from Foligno to Sarnano with many climbs on the route and a big (13,25 km, 13% max.) climb Sassotetto in the final.
Photo credit: ©Bettiniphoto
