Paolo Tiralongo celebrated his stage 4 victory at the Giro del Trentino with several of his Astana teammates. The quiet, nervous atmosphere that had surrounded the troubled Kazakhstani team in recent weeks was suddenly replaced with big smiles, hugs and pats on the back. In 24 hours the Astana team had managed to keep their WorldTour licence and win a stage at an important race.
The good news came at the right moment, as team leader Vincenzo Nibali prepares to challenge for victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday and another part of the team turns their focus towards helping Fabio Aru at the Giro d’Italia.
Tiralongo, 38, has been at Astana for six years but still has the ability to challenge for the occasional personal victory.
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“I told my teammates that I’d try something on the long climb because I wanted to test my form for the Giro d’Italia,” he explained to Cyclingnews.
“I gave it everything, dragged a good group clear and then whittled it down to just three riders. I was confident for the sprint even though I did try to drop them at one point. I’d finished second at Trentino two years ago but I messed up that sprint. This time it went a lot better.”
A message after the licence problems
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