Victory for Astana at the Classic Var - Christian Scaroni beats Decathlon duo, Vauquelin and Buitrago at Mur de Fayence

XDS Astana Team have been piling on UCI points and this afternoon they have done it again! The Kazakh team has taken it's first win of the 2025 season, as Christian Scaroni beat quality competition to win the hilly Classic Var.

Early in the day five riders took the helm and formed the breakaway: Jaakko Hänninen, Baptiste Veistroffer, Célestin Guillon, Maël Guégan and Damien Girard. A small group that didn't look to create much of a threat but the peloton potentially misunderestimated them, as the Arkéa and EF-led peloton wouldn't catch them until the very last kilometers.

The race was mostly flat but with a very steep 1-kilometer ascent to the line at the Mur de Fayence. The last survivors of the front group lasted all the way into the base of the final climb. Victor Lafay was the first rider to accelerate in the very steep final 500 meters, followed by Christian Scaroni and French champion Paul Lapeira who then took the front as well.

But against two strong rivals, Scaroni was fearless and took to the front, into the final corner the Italian still had the explosivity in his legs and sprinted to an impressive win - Astana's first of the season. Lapeira was second and Lafay third, whilst Kévin Vauquelin and Santiago Buitrago completed the Top5.

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