Tanel Kangert (Pro Team Astana) on the podium(Image credit: Sirotti)
Tanel Kangert (Pro Team Astana) won stage 9(Image credit: Sirotti)
Tanel Kangert (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Estonian champion Tanel Kangert (Astana) sets a strong pace on the final climb(Image credit: Sirotti)
Tanel Kangert did his duty for Team Astana on the third stage of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday, despite suffering from the heat. The Estonian was one of those who held the tempo high on the final climb in a successful effort to drop as much of the field as possible.
His captain Vincenzo Nibali was unable to catch the break from the stage winner, Luca Paolini but was in the chase group of favourites which finished only 16 seconds down. Nibali is now in fifth place overall, 31 seconds down.
“It was difficult to stay quick and the race was nearly six hours long,” Kangert told Cyclingnews afterwards, “but the main thing for me was I suffered too much from the heat. I think I overdressed also, and in the end I had very bad cramps.”
That took him out of things, as “I couldn't follow them any more, but the other guys were in there and my job was done.” He finished 3:05 down.
He said that the fourth stage “can be even harder (....) I don't know the tactics yet, but I hope we do fight more.”
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