Giro della Toscana: XDS Astana's Christian Scaroni takes third place
XDS Astana Team rider Christian Scaroni secured another podium finish on September 9, placing third at the Italian one-day race Giro della Toscana, Qazinform News Agency cites the team’s press service.
Scaroni made his move on the final climb of the race, attacking the group of favorites with 25 kilometers remaining. His acceleration helped him join the front group, which went on to contest the victory.
Giulio Pellizzari claimed the win after launching a decisive attack in the final kilometer. Scaroni finished second in the sprint from the chasing group, earning third place overall.
Speaking after the race, Scaroni said the final climb was not ideally suited to his strengths, but praised his teammates for helping him conserve energy before making his decisive move.
“The final climb was quite long, and I can’t say it suited me. However, thanks to the early attacks from other riders and the excellent work of my teammates, we rode almost the entire climb at a comfortable pace for me,” Scaroni said.
He added that he gave everything with one kilometer remaining to the summit to ensure he stayed with the leaders before focusing on the finish.
“I tried to save as much energy as possible for the finale and a possible sprint. When Pellizzari attacked, we couldn’t close the gap, and all that was left was to sprint for the podium. In the end, I took third place,” he said.
The result marks an improvement for Scaroni, who missed out on the podium at last year's edition of the race.
“Of course, I would have liked to win. But we still have three more races ahead, we have a strong team, and we will be ready to fight in the coming days,” Scaroni said.
Earlier, Qazinform reported Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina had become the world No. 1 in the WTA rankings for the first time in her career.
