“The team has always believed in me and I am grateful" - Michele Gazzoli tastes victory on second day of racing after year-long doping ban

Returning to racing for the first time since a year-long suspension for doping, Astana Qazaqstan Team's Michele Gazzoli took just two days to get that winning feeling.

"This is a dream,” he told Wielerflits in his post-stage interview. “I have worked so hard for this goal. For the past year I have thought about this moment every day, every workout and every second. I am completely back.”

The 24-year-old Italian was demoted to Astana's development team upon his return but the Kazakh-based outfit has largely supported him throughout a tough twelve months and Gazzoli is delighted to reward them with a win, so soon after returning.

“The year was long. I kept training to improve myself. That gave me the motivation to keep going. I went to Livigno twice on a training camp with my friends. The fact that it succeeds right now makes me emotional, but also very happy," he says. “The team has always believed in me and I am grateful to them for that.”