Almaty Cycling Club to be named after Vinokourov

Almaty Cycling Club will be named after Alexandre Vinokourov, the 2012 London Olympic cycling champion from Kazakhstan, Tengrinews.kz reports, citing Almaty Akimat (city authorities) press-service. Akim (Mayor) of Almaty Akhmetzhan Yessimov congratulated Vinokourov on his victory at the Olympics. He said that all Kazakhstan citizens cheered for the national team and were happy and excited every time a Kazakhstan athlete performed decently. “All those days Kazakhstan citizens were living with the Olympic Games. We were all closely watching the Games and after the very first days we were all set for victory (Vinokourov won the race on the first day) thanks to your successful performance in Olympics men’s road race,” the Akim of the city said. Vinokourov said that he was grateful to all Kazakhstan residents for their support. “I am very proud that I was the first athlete to open the medal count of the national team and inspire our Olympic athletes to win. I am happy that they kept winning medals and performed decently,” Olympic champion added. According to Vinokourov, he is closely watching the development of cycling in Kazakhstan, including the traditional bike races that are often held in Almaty. “This is a superb idea to get our citizens to start riding bicycles (instead of driving cars). It is important for the ecology and for the city’s residents, for their health. It is great that the Mayor of the city himself initiated this and personally takes part in the bicycle races, supporting this way of life and proving that those were not empty words, but the actual deeds,” Vinokourov said. During his conversation with Vinokourov the Mayor discussed holding a pro-tour race in Almaty in 2013. Vinokourov is going to start working on this project shortly.