Astana's Alexey Lutsenko wins Tour of Almaty

Kazakhstani cycler Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team has won the Tour of Almaty for the second time, Tengrinews reports citing Vesti.kz.

Lutsenko was sheltered by Andrey Zeits and the winner of Vuelta 2015 Fabio Aru. Lutsenko attacked in the final 23 km of the race taking it to the solo breakaway, while Zeits and Aru kept an eye on the opponents.

Aru reached the finish line after Zeits. Pavel Kochetkov of Katyusha was third on the finish line.

"The start of the race was very tough, because there were attacks, breakaways and catching ups. The race was very stressful. In the middle of the race I was making it in the first breakaway when my teammate Fabio Aru helped me a lot (...). After 100 km we were ahead of others. 20-23 km away from the finish line I ended up on my own. I realized that and took advantage of my opponent by 20 seconds and managed to reach the finish line with almost 1.5 minute lead," Lutsenko said.

20 teams including two professional cycling teams Astana and Katyusha took part in the 2015 Tour of Almaty, a 186 km one-day race.  

Mayor of Almaty Baurzhan Baibek and the former Mayor of the city who now chairs the EXPO-2017 steering company Akhmetzhan Yessimov attended the biggest cycling race in Kazakhstan.

Photo © Nikolay Kolessnikov

"As you know the race is taking place in Almaty for the third time. It is a great opportunity to promote Almaty. Every metropolitan city should host such international events. For us, the race is a great opportunity to enhance the city infrastructure in preparations for the Universiade in 2017. Tour of Almaty brings joy to Almaty dwellers. Cycling in general is gaining popularity in the city. Last year, 10 thousand people came to Almaty for the event while the TV audience reached 100 million people. We will continue supporting this race," Akim Baibek said.

Astana Pro Team arrived with Fabio Aru, Paolo Tiralongo, Alexey Lutsenko, Arman Kamyshev, Ruslan Tleubayev, Daniil Fominih, Andrey Zeits and Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev.

Russian Katyusha cycling team took part in the race for the second time. The Sports Director of the Team Gennady Mikhailov noted the high level of organization of the event. He added that the team brought strong cyclers to the Tour of Almaty this year.

Vice President of Cycling Federation of Kazakhstan Raimbek Batalov commented on the race adding that next year there will be some changes in the race. "The race is getting better each year, both in terms of sport and organization. This year there has been a suspense till the very end of the race. We want to support the level of the competition," Batalov said.

"Next year we could organize a more interesting finish. We plan to organize the finish line on Medeu with its beautiful scenery. We want Eurosport and national TV channels to show our beauties. Meanwhile, we are discussing it," the Vice President added.

By Gyuzel Kamalova