Tour de Kyushu: Astana's Ivan Smirnov wins the final stage, third in General Classification
Astana Qazaqstan Team trainee Ivan Smirnov brilliantly wrapped up his performance at the Tour de Kyushu in Japan. Smirnov claimed victory in the third and final stage, winning the sprint from the peloton. Additionally, the Astana Qazaqstan Team rider managed to climb to the third spot in the General Classification of the Japanese stage race, Kazinform News Agency cites the Team's press service.
Another Astana Qazaqstan Team rider, Anthon Charmig, finished fourth in the overall standings.
“We expected the entire stage to be very challenging and essentially decisive, so we were preparing for a tough battle. Still, the last two laps were incredibly hard, with attacks coming one after another on every climb. Today, we were helping Anthon Charmig, who was fighting for the General Classification, bringing him into position to attack. In the end, he launched an attack on the final climb, 15 km before the finish. The climb was too difficult for me, and I dropped from the group with about 250 meters to the top. Unfortunately, Anthon’s attack didn’t succeed – their group was caught just a few kilometers before the finish. But I managed to rejoin the group right before the finish. The peloton was already much smaller by then, so with the support of Alexandr Vinokurov and Anton Kuzmin, I quickly moved to the front and got a good position for the sprint. I gave it my all in the sprint and managed to win, which I’m very happy about. It’s nice to finish the race with a victory. Thanks to the bonus seconds, I also took third place in the General Classification – a good bonus”, said Ivan Smirnov.
Earlier, the Astana Qazaqstan Team revealed a roster for Gree-Tour of Guangxi 2024.