Simone Velasco's excellent result at La Doyenne puts Astana within reach of WorldTour: "Fourth place today feels like a victory for us"
Cycling
Fourth place is rarely a result that is celebrated, but for XDS Astana it's almost the same as winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Thanks to Simone Velasco's excellent sprint, Astana is 440 points closer to their goal of holding on to their WorldTour license with gap to safe 18th position dropping below 4 digits.
"I am very happy with my result, it is a big step for me to be fourth, so close to the podium in a Monumental Classic like Liège–Bastogne–Liège," said excited Velasco in a press release after the race.
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However it was far from a walk in the park for Velasco, he explains: "It was a super hard race, and some bad luck made it even harder: I got a mechanical just before La Redoute and was able to catch the last wheel of the group at the start of the climb. So, I had to spend a lot of energy to pass small groups and to come more or less to the front, and then to continue pushing hard to come back to the main group."
Eventually, he was able to find his place in a larger group that came together to compete for fourth place. "In the final kilometers, I got some valuable help from my teammates to get a good position for the sprint. I did my best in the sprint, and at the end of this long day, I got fourth place."
Compared to his teammate Christian Scaroni who was flying in early months, Velasco started the season a bit slower, but the result at Liege is a culmination of a strong period with top performances at Itzulia Basque Country (8th overall) and Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali (5th overall).
"It is an important achievement for me and also for the team. After bad luck at Amstel Gold Race and tough weather at La Flèche Wallonne, finally I could find good form and show myself. I am grateful for my teammates who also worked very hard for this result today. Now we need to focus on our next goals."
The importance of this result resonates also in the words of team manager Alexandr Vinokurov: "Fourth place today feels like a victory for us."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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