Kazakh raid on Spain

The Vuelta ended with the triumph of Astana and its leader Vinokurov

The last multi-day race in the Grand Tour series this season was won by Kazakh cyclist Alexander Vinokurov, who became the winner of the Vuelta. For the second year in a row, on the roads of Spain, first place in the general classification is taken by a Russian-speaking racer. Let us remind you that last season, after the doping disqualification of the owner of the track, Roberto Heras, the main prize went to our Denis Menshov.

For 33-year-old Vinokourov, who celebrated his birthday by winning the time trial at the penultimate stage, this is the biggest success of his career. And the excellent final result is especially valuable because it was achieved by Vinokurov not as part of a foreign team, but in the ranks of Astana, financed by the government of Kazakhstan.

“This victory is a holiday for our entire country,” Vinokurov said. -- Thanks to the support of the Prime Minister, Astana does not have to worry about its future over the next few years. I really want the dream of my entire sporting life to come true next season - I will strive to win the Tour de France. The removal of our team from the “Big Loop” was unfair, because “Astana” had enough riders who were not involved in any way in the doping scandal, and their names did not appear in the Spanish police investigation called “Operation Puerto”. My partners and I came to the Vuelta with great motivation, and we consider our successful performance as a huge step on the main path - the main goal is still first place in the general classification of the Tour de France 2007. Who remain my main competitors? Of course, this is the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, with whom I had to compete at the Vuelta, we cannot but take into account the Italian Damiano Cunego and his compatriot Ivan Basso, if, of course, he is cleared of all suspicions of involvement in the doping case of Dr. Fuentes.”

During the first week of the Vuelta, while the stages were mostly flat, Vinokurov remained somewhat in the shadow, but after the peloton entered the mountains, Alexander significantly improved his position in the overall standings. He took the “golden” leader’s jersey from Valverde at the end of the 13th stage - together with the American Thomas Danielson from Discovery Channel, he brought the Spaniard to the group for more than a minute. And the next day, the leader of Astana increased his advantage by finishing in tandem with teammate Andrei Kashechkin, who made a huge contribution to Vinokurov’s final success.

The time when Vinokurov “carried the piano” for Jan Ullrich at T-Mobile and built tactics not based on personal ambitions, but in the interests of the German, who was considered the number one of this cycling group, is in the past. In the off-season, Alexander moved to Liberty Seguros, not yet expecting that the team would be drained of blood on the eve of the Tour de France due to a doping scandal. Let us remember that Roberto Heras, who was deprived of the championship at the 2005 Vuelta, played for this team. When the main sponsor - a Spanish insurance company - ceased cooperation with the team, it was the presence in its ranks of such a charismatic racer as Vinokurov that prompted the Kazakh authorities to sponsor and guardianship.

At the Vuelta, together with Alexander, Astana included three of his compatriots - Andrei Kashechkin, who took third place in the overall standings, as well as Assan Bazaev and Sergei Yakovlev. Their partners also included the Portuguese Sergio Paulinho, the Spaniards Carlos Barredo, Jose Redondo, Luis Sanchez Gilles and the Australian Aaron Kemps. Vinokourov has won three stages, including the time trial, and Kashechkin, who was a medalist twice more, won another victory. Paulinho also distinguished himself in the 10th stage. Thus, Astana has five wins, which is more than any of the twenty other teams.

Last year's winner Denis Menshov could not withstand the stress of two elite stage races in a row - he left too much energy on the Big Loop. The Russian, having lost his chances of success, retired from the Vuelta and now, as it turned out, due to illness he will not be able to take part in the World Championship starting this week. The prestige of Russian cycling was supported by Vladimir Karpets (Il Balears), who finished the Vuelta in eighth position. Two more of our compatriots were included in the top 25 participants in the Spanish race - Lampre representative Evgeniy Petrov (18th place) and Vladimir Gusev from Discovery Channel (23rd). Ilya TRISVIATSKY