Astana’s Vinokurov wins 5th stage of Tour of Japan
The rider of Astana Qazaqstan Team Nicolas Vinokurov is the winner of the fifth stage of the Tour of Japan, and Davide Toneatti takes second place, Kazinform News Agency reports citing the club’s press service.
The fifth stage of the Tour of Japan had a distance of 120 kilometers and was held on a lap of 10,5 kilometers in the city of Iida.
Nicolas is competing in the Tour of Japan as part of the Astana Qazaqstan Development Team. The stage race started successfully for the team with the victory at the opening prologue and the lead in the GC. After several stages with top 10 results, today the team managed to successfully execute the final part of the race and took the first two places.
“Today was a tough stage. I initially went to a breakaway which was later joined by Max (Walker) and we were like 15 riders. We rode all the laps of the race in the break and with 50 kilometers to go, we decided that the group was too big, and we needed to try to split it. Max and I us started attacking, and after each lap, fewer and fewer riders remained in the pack. By the final lap, there were four of us left. The peloton caught us on the final lap. With one kilometer to go, I thought the race was over for me, but seeing that the group had slowed down a bit, I decided to try to attack again. In the last uphill 300 meters, I gave it my all, pushed as hard as I could, and I’m very happy that I managed to win today. It’s a great day for the team,” said Nicolas Vinokurov.