Astana 14th after Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 3

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - An almost flat Team Time Trial, the day before the peloton moves into the mountains, finished in a fourteenth place for Astana Pro Team (+1'48"). Team Sky was the fastest team on the 35-kilometer-long course, Kazinform has learnt from the club's press service. 

The condition is still there. From tomorrow, when the road starts to go up, I want to be there. We have a small time gap, but in the mountains everything can happen. Still, anything is possible in the overall. We'll watch the situation day by day. I come from the Giro, so the rhythm should be there. So, I will try to stay in the race until Sunday and try to be concentrated. I think we have a team to perform well in the mountains. There are more teams that lost some time today, so for sure there will happen things in the next days and an interesting race will unfold. Pello Bilbao.

The Team Time Trial from Pont-de-Vaux to Louhans-Chateaurenaud was a fast one, with long straight roads and 35 kilometers to cover. After a strong team effort, Astana Pro Team finished in the 6thintermediate time at the finish in 38'22". At the end of the day, this was worth a fourteenth place, 1'48" behind the winning team, Team Sky.

It was the final test before the decisive mountain stages, with directly a hard one coming up tomorrow: A 181-kilometer-long stage from Chazey-sur-Ain to Lans-en-Vercors. The finish is on top of the final climb, which will make it an interesting battle for the stage win and the general classification.