Alexey Lutsenko on Giro di Sicilia victory: "This is an important victory, also for the team"

Astana Qazaqstan Team have today snatched their biggest result of the season. After a low-level start to the year where they found themselves behind almost a dozen ProTeams after months of racing, the Kazakh team finally managed to take a meaningful result as Alexey Lutsenko won the Giro di Sicilia.

He had shown decent legs over the opening days of the race but today's queen stage, which saw the riders race around the slopes of Mount Etna, was to be the decisive one. The peloton blew up over the longest ascent of the day, and then in the rolling descent several attacks went off the front. The Kazakh made his move together with defending champion Damiano Caruso. “It wasn't the plan, but I wanted to try it on the steep climb. That climb suited me," he said in a post-race interview.

The signs were good, but he proved his form later on. In the final climb of the day he dropped all of his group companions, including the riders that had attacked earlier and started the climb with a lead. Not only that, but he managed to extend his advantage over the descent and following kilometers to the chasing group that included race leader Finn Fisher-Black. It was a tough day of racing, where Lutsenko was head and shoulders above the competition.

“I am very happy, also for the team. So it's nice, after that long time. This is an important victory, also for the team," the Kazakh concluded. After an underwhelming spring it seems that he his finally hitting good form and just in time for the Ardennes classics where he will now be an outsider following this win.