The first set of medals has been contested by women at the Almaty Universiade
Almaty. 30 January. Kazakhstan Today - The first set of medals has been contested by women at the Almaty Universiade
1. Liliya Vasilieva (Russia) - 14:08.06
2. Anna Nechaevskaya (Russia) - 14:21.09
3. Anna Shevchenko (Kazakhstan) - 14:23.08
64 athletes from 21 countries took part in the 5km womenИs classic race. The athletes enjoyed the bright sun and the light breeze. The race turned out to be dramatic and intense. The first to run was a representative from China - Zhao Yuan. From that point onwards - the race went according to the protocol. Falls could not be avoided. BrazilИs Bruna Moura was doing very well but lost her balance while skiing uphill one of the slopes and fell. It turned out to be a coincidence that all future medal winners of the race ran in the last group. This made the race more intense. Starting from the first runner to cross the finish line, race leaders kept changing every minute. And right before the end of the race the medalists were finally determined. Liliya Vasilieva from Russia did not give any chances to her opponents.
- I always aim for a medal, - the first champion of the 2017 Universiade, Vassilieva, says. - The race trail is peculiar. There are gentle slopes but there is also a steep uphill slope. Turns and down hills are very difficult. I ran at my own pace. As for the trail, no one told me anything. All went well.
During the race the Russian runner was 5 seconds behind the Kazakh runner but ultimately was able to win it. As a result, Anna Shevchenko from Kazakhstan ended up with the bronze medal after conceding 2 seconds to the silver medalist, Anna Nechaevskaya.
- The second part of the race was a lot harder - the Kazakh runner said after the race. - Perhaps I started off really fast and then slowed down slightly. The trail is challenging. The part where you have to ski uphill takes up almost half of the trail. Luckily, I could rely on my skis.
Source: Almaty 2017 Winter Universiade Oganizing Directorate
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Today, we wanted to race aggressively aiming the final GC podium and why not to win another stage. With 35 km to go the team did a perfect job pushing full gas on the last climb to launch Davide’s attack on the top of climb. I was able to follow the small chasing group behind, but when he got caught on the downhill, so we had to collaborate with other guys in the group, trying to keep our advantage. Well, finally, we got caught by the second chasing group with some 15 km to go, but I saw another opportunity and attacked again with three more guys. I think this move looked pretty good and we opened a gap, however, I was feeling like those guys were faster than me, so I started disorganizing the group, to provide a chance to Alessandro who stayed well placed in the group behind our shoulders. In the last 300 meters I saw the chase coming back at the full speed, so I launched the sprint to make a small lead-out for Alessandro. He did it perfectly and we got another nice win here in Rhodes. What a nice day for us!", - added one of today’s heroes Nicolas Vinokurov.
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Tour of Rhodes. Alessandro Romele claims first victory in Stage Two
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The rider of Astana Qazaqstan Development Team Alessandro Romele won Stage Two of the Tour of Rhodes in Greece, Team’s official website reports.
The second stage of the Tour of Rhodes with a distance of 158 kilometers started in Rhodes and finished in Kalithies. Alessandro Romele was the strongest in the bunch sprint and achieved the team’s first victory in the 2024 season.
Alessandro Romele about his first victory for Astana Qazaqstan Development Team:
It was a tough race from the start till the very finish. We as a team worked perfectly and controlled the situation. We were always altogether and in front, which helped us to save energy for the final where we were together with Nico and Alex. My first intention was to actually do the lead out for Nico but with 100 meters to go I saw that I can continue further. I am very glad to win and I hope we can do a good job tomorrow as well".
Team Sports Director Dmitri Sedoun about today’s victory:
We arrived to Tour of Rhodes with the intention to demonstrate good results, in the past days we were always active and were looking for a win and today we achieved it. Everything went according to our plan today, Alessandro, Nicolas (Vinokurov) and Davide (Toneatti) finished in the Top-10. So, our plan worked well and the riders did a good job, but tomorrow is another day and we are going to fight for the highest result once again".
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