Astana at the Giro. Any chances for success?

[Konfronto]

Martinelli on Contador on velonation:

“The key to doing this is that one of the contenders must have the courage to risk losing the Giro to try to overcome him. With my Astana I can try,” he said.

Some combination is in the head of Martinelli? Maybe some sort of breakaway for big patrons of Astana is planned? It will be interesting to see how they will do that.

 

[Konfronto]

What a day for Astana. Tiralongo finaly gets it! The first win being pro! Konta is a real champ, now Astana owes him a bit of help. So far they got:

1. Team classification
2. Best young rider
3. One stage win


Better than was expected. Great ride and effort by Tira. Second day in a row in breakway.
I guess there is no problem for the team to hold 2 classifications till the final bell. This Giro is a success for the team!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kreuziger needs to be careful though.

He lost 20 seconds on Kruijswijk today. He has 2'30 for the final mountain. Kruijswijk is, contrary what you would think, a good ITT-er (7th in romandie itt).

He (Kreuziger) can't crack on finestre... 2'30 should be enough tho

 

[jens_attacks]

same here.

but i'll repeat myself:i think tiralongo will go better than roman

i wasn't that far wrong it seems.i always liked tiralongo because he looks and acts like a real pro rider.he deserved to be the team leader in this giro,too bad it didn't happen.

 

[rmacek]

Roman definitely has in his contract that he will be leader.. He had quite a lot of offers (Radioshack for example), so he could set some conditions..

 

[The Hitch]

i wasn't that far wrong it seems.i always liked tiralongo because he looks and acts like a real pro rider.he deserved to be the team leader in this giro,too bad it didn't happen.

Hell be ecstatic with how this Giro has turned out.

Seeing him smiling and laughing as the Rai studio interviewed him for like 5 minutes was such a great moment.

Just beautiful. Thats one of the great things about cycling. The fan can identify with someone like Tira's success. Its not a a guy getting payed millions and living in mansions. Its someone whose worked his whole life for others getting their moment of glory.

I look forward to the "inside Astana" piece tomorrow.

 

[Konfronto]

Uff, sealed! Astana made it to the final day. The best team at the Giro 2011 !!! Roman K - best young rider, also 6th in GC! Paolo Tiralongo earned a stage win for the first time in his career as a pro.

This Giro revealed that Martinelli is definitely an asset for Astana. He gathered such a talented squad.

The most exciting about Astana team, Giro 2011 edition, is the fact, that there are a lot of young talented riders. Kreuziger, Misciarelli, Kiserlovski. I hope they will be improving with every year.

As for veteran Tiralongo, he might be selected as a captain for the next Giro and Roman might be co-captain. However, I reckon, from the next year on Roman's main goal will the Tour. Masciarelli might try to ride Vuelta this year.

It was fun to watch this Giro and especially the team's work.

Definitely Astana have had a successful Giro. Bravo riders, managers and all the staff of the team!

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

Did Kreuziger said that he's going to Tour now in latest Inside the team video?

 

[rmacek]

Don't know what he said in Inside the Team, but on his official sites and also on Astana sites he said he is going to ride Tour de France if everything will be ok.. But probably not for GC but to help Vino..

 

[jens_attacks]

if vino needs his help,he must go.

all of those inside the team videos were pretty great.peppe martinelli is good.
can't wait to see vino in them,we gonna have some epic moments."vous ne travaillez pas!"

 

[CatsNK]

The Eurosport videos were fantastic. I feel like I learned so much about the inner-workings of a cycling team from watching them. Just fantastic.

Can't wait for the TdF to see Vino leading the team.

 

[greenedge]

Yeah same they shall bring in Di Gregorio and maybe Zeits. Hopefully Kiverloski and Kreuziger can help too. Vaitkus, Davis maybe. It depends on who can back up from Giro. They shall have a few more big name riders there though with maybe as not many domestiques.