The Astana Pro team won the team category of the May 9-31 Giro d’Italia in Italy after two of the Astana Pro Team racers finished the 21-stage-race second and third securing the win for the Astana Pro team.
Thirty-seven-year-old Italian Paolo Tiralongo won stage nine, his compatriot Fabio Aru, 24, won the 19th and the 20th stages, while Spaniard Mikel Landa, 25, surprisingly won mountainous stages 15 and 16. All three ride for Astana Pro Team.
Spanish Alberto Contador, 32, of the Russian Tinkoff-Saxo team finished first. It was the second win at Giro d’Italia for the Spaniard in his career. His first victory was celebrated as part of the Astana crew in 2008.
“We did not give up without a fight; this has never happened in our history that we have won five stages. Landa took two stages, we thought that he could help; my regards to Fabio,” Astana Pro Team General Manager and London 2012 Olympic Champion Aleksander Vinokourov said after the race.
On June 6, Giro d’Italia stage winners Aru, Landa and Tiralongo jointly with their teammate Andrew Seitz and General Manager Vinokourov met with fans in Astana, Kazakh TV reported.
“It is my first time in Kazakhstan. I was in Milan before. I visited EXPO 2015 and the Kazakh pavilion. It was amazing, of course. I will try to learn more about Kazakhstan and will come here more frequently,” Landa said.
“This is my third time in Kazakhstan and every time I come here, I feel happy. I am happy to see the faces of the fans who support us. In the future, I will try to show better results,” Aru commented.
The Astana team is now focusing its training on the July 4-26 Tour de France.
