Despite being heavily outnumbered on the final climb, Alexey Lutsenko managed to survive multiple attacks from UAE Team Emirates to take the stage win and move into the overall race lead at the Giro d'Abruzzo.
“UAE has a strong team, but my team also did a great job for me. This is a great result for me, the team and my teammates. It was a super good day,” the Kazakh National Champion reflected in his post-stage interview. “The last climb was very tough. Adam Yates tried to drop me several times with an attack, just like the whole of UAE Emirates. But I was able to finish it in the final.”
On the final climb, Yates, Pavel Sivakov and Diego Ulissi all went on the attack against Lutsenko, but through it all the Astana Qazaqstan Team leader stayed calm, and manged his efforts to perfection.
“I always followed Adam's wheel. Sivakov also tried several times. And in the last two kilometres Diego Ulissi also came back. I had to give it my all today," he concludes. "This gives a super good feeling. I had a stressful and difficult period at the beginning of the season. Now I have a good feeling again and a lot of motivation. My mind is fresh again and I have done a good job in the run-up to this during an altitude internship.”
Alexey Lutsenko stretches his streak of consecutive seasons with at least 1 pro win to 11. He has triumphed at least once every year since 2014. Tied-4th longest active run — Ulissi (15), Kristoff (13), Demare (12), S.Bennett (11), Roglic (11), Lutsenko (11). 🇮🇹 #IlGirodAbruzzo
