Vinokourov eyes yellow at Tour de France

Alexandre Vinokourov brought the first part of his 2011 season to a close, finishing third overall in the Tour de Romandie.
It was Vinokourov's first appearance at the race and he was happy with the result.

"I am pleased to have won a stage," he said given his crafty victory on stage 3. "I have no regrets for the general [classification], yesterday I did a good time-trial, I gave the maximum but Cadel has been impressive in the second part of the race, so he deserves his victory today."

Vinokourov staged a late attempt to take the stage win on Sunday with two kilometres to go but was quickly shut down.

"Team Sky kept the pace too high, I couldn't attack, it doesn't always work!" the 37-year-old referring to his winning attack on Friday.

The Astana team leader's next goal is the Tour de France after a short break. It's been a busy start to the season for Vinokourov, taking out the third stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. He followed that performance with a top 10 finish at the Tour of the Basque Country and then fourth at Fleche Wallonne.

"Now I'll rest a little, this race marked the end of my first part of the season," Vinokourov explained. "This year I started quietly, then the form has arrived in the Basque country - there won the third stage - I ran out of luck in the Classics, and in Romandie the form was there. Now I'll take one or two weeks of rest, and I'll go on altitude for a training camp and I will compete for the Dauphine.

"Then it will be the Tour de France, I will be leader of the Astana team there, but I don't aim to win the overall, the podium would be ideal, but my dream for my last Tour de France, is to wear the yellow jersey a few days."

 

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

 

As a sports journalist and producer since 1997, Jane has covered Olympic and Commonwealth Games, rugby league, motorsport, cricket, surfing, triathlon, rugby union, and golf for print, radio, television and online. However her enduring passion has been cycling.

 

Jane is a former Australian Editor of Cyclingnews from 2011 to 2013 and continues to freelance within the cycling industry.