A nice touch of paint for theAstana PremierTech in view of next year. Important riders are leaving and just as many are arriving. And Among the new additions, there is one who could significantly change the DNA of the Kazakh team, which has always been dedicated to stage races. Gianni Moscon. With him we will focus heavily on the classics.
It is true, Birdsong He won a Liège, but he wasn't a pure classics man. We're talking about a rider who also aimed for the Grand Tours, a rider who, before the Danish boom, also ran time trials for his nation.
Moscon leader
And in this change there is one of the turquoise sports directors who will be affected more than others by this change. It is Stefano Zanini.
"I'm pleased," says Zazà, "that Astana has signed a rider like him for next year and the years to come. Moscon is a very important man for the classics; he'll be a leader for us. And I'm disappointed he didn't win Roubaix last Sunday, but it means he can do it next year!" In my opinion he deserved it, but there's little you can do about bad luck.
"Do I know him? No, not yet. Yes, we say hello at the races when we cross paths, but nothing more. But I think he's a guy who does things well, a serious professional. And In Astana he will have the space to express his potential".
A group for the classics
With these words, Zanini introduces the topic of trust. A topic that applies to everyone, but even more so to some riders. And Moscon is a young man, perhaps even taciturn, a tough guy on the surface, but when he feels the support of the team (and Cioni also said so in his time), he performs much better.
"He'll definitely have confidence," Zanini continues. "He's a leader, and when he's fit, he'll have even more, and when he's not, he'll be able to help his teammates. Then they'll be able to reciprocate by giving 110% for him. A champion can achieve something even when he's not the best. Come on, he'll have the right environment."
«I see it more as a good option for the “first part” classics, so Roubaix, Flanders… But as I just said, a champion can do great things even in races that aren't suited to his characteristics."
Sparkling Zazà
But Moscon's arrival is also a welcome change of pace for Zanini himself. He, the "Maciste," the tough guy from the North who won the Amstel and isn't afraid of the cold and rocks, will be able to impart a lot to the Trentino native. Not to mention that precisely because of these characteristics and his racing background, he usually leads Astana in those races. Is it also stimulating for him to compete for the first time with such a competitive rider?
"Very stimulating! Believe me, I'm already thinking about it. My head is already there. But I must say that we already have a man for the North: David Ballerini, but it was his first experience and if you're in the first year you can be as strong as you want, but you can't improvise anything."
But Gianni won't be alone. To win, he'll need a team that can support him.
"There clearly isn't a specific working group yet. Now we'll see with Martinelli and the other sports directors. We're losing people like Aranburu (this year it has grown a lot, ed.), Luis Leon Sanchez (and Zazà adds a “damn”!, ed.), the izaguirre. But we have an interesting young man who is FedorovHe's in his first year, he has little experience but he seems suited to the classic ones. And there's also Gruzdev: a good bull… when he wants. And I must say that Lutsenko he himself has already had some good races on the cobblestones."
