Astana’s Gidich, Martinelli sprint into top 20 of Saudi Tour Stage 2
NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - Today’s longest stage of the Saudi Tour ended in a bunch sprint, where Yevgeniy Gidich and Davide Martinelli sprinted into the Top 20, while Manuele Boaro moved up five positions in the overall ranking, Kazinform has learnt from the club’s press service.
The second day of the Saudi Tour started near the Sadus Castle and covered 182 flat kilometers to the finish in Al Bujairi. The first hour of racing was marked by heavy rain and made it a tough day of racing. Nevertheless, a quartet went up the road and opened up a big gap. As the rain stopped, the peloton faced warmer conditions in the desert of Saudi Arabia, where the riders from the Astana Pro Team rode together in the bunch.
With the gap dropping steadily, it was all back together as the race headed into the finale. A crash inside the last 10 kilometers caused some excitement but, luckily no Astana rider was involved.
Heading into the final 5 kilometers, the Astana riders showed the Kazakh colors at the front of the race, giving everything for their sprinter Yevgeniy Gidich. On the finale stretch, Yevgeniy Gidich sprinted to 13th place, while teammate Davide Martinelli took 16th place after a long and tough day in the saddle at the Saudi Tour. Manuele Boaro moved up to 13th place in the overall ranking.
«It was the longest stage of this edition of the race, it wasn’t that windy as yesterday. Therefore, we had not the situation as yesterday with echelons but it was still a tough day. At the end we tried to deliver Martinelli and Gidich and also to work for Boaro for the overall. Tomorrow will be a short stage, where we will try to achieve a good result. The team spirit is good and the guys are motivated,» said Dimitri Sedoun, Sports Director of Astana Pro Team
Tomorrow, the race will start at the King Saud University and will end after 119 hilly kilometers in Al Bujairi.