Cycling: Team Astana celebrated a double victory on the first stage of the Tour of the Alps. Pello Bilbao won ahead of his compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez. After the race, he dedicated the victory to his late teammate Michele Scarponi. The Italian won the season opener last year and died just a few days later in an accident during training.
Astana wanted this win badly
After yesterday Michael Valgren already for Astana that Amstel Gold Race won, the team wanted to celebrate a good start to the Tour of the Alps today. The reason: Last year Michele Scarponi won his last race here before his death. The Astana team took control of the race right at the start and controlled the events together with the Sky and Groupama-FDJ teams. The breakaway group of nine with the Austrian Matthias Krizek (Felbermayr-Simplon Wels) had no chance of success. Several attacks reduced the peloton to around 20 men, including five pros from Astana. The Kazakh team played off this numerical superiority with a double victory. The top favorites Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Chris Froome (Sky) and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) finished fourth, fifth and tenth.
Pelo Bilbao:
"I dedicate the victory to Michele Scarponi, who also won the first stage last year."