Astana’s Bizhigitov in breakaway, Aranburu finishes in main group at Bretagne Classic-Ouest-France

The classical race, taking place in the French region of Bretagne, was characterized by hilly route and difficult weather conditions, Astana Pro Team’s official website reads.

Kazakh rider Zhandos Bizhigitov spent more than 175 km in the breakaway, who attacked from the first kilometers with seven other riders, and was caught 70 km before the finish line.

Spanish rider of Astana Pro Team Alex Aranburu finished in the main peloton reduced after a lot of attacks up to 40 riders.

«It was a very fast race, with an average speed of about 41 km per hour. The weather today was quite capricious – there was rain, mud, and wind, and only at the end of the race did the sun come out. Fortunately, there weren't too many crashes in these conditions. Today we had the main leader – Alex Aranburu, who felt very well and rode today’s race quite confidently, but, unfortunately, 2 km before to go, he missed an important breakaway that was reached to the finish line. He caught this gap and tried to close it alone by himself, but lost a lot of strength and returned to the main group. In any case, he feels good and is preparing for the next races,» commented sports director Sergey Yakovlev after the finish.