Result logical after strong year in saddle
Alexandre Vinokourov was crowned the Kazakh sportsman of the year, organized by the country’s largest website, www.nur.kz. The 2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner had an extremely successful year and gave his Kazakh Astana team plenty to cheer for.
Vinokourov had 24.2 percent of the votes and won against weightlifting world champion Ilya Ilin (17,9 percent) and 2010 Olympics silver medal biathlete Elena Khrustelava (15.5 percent).
Vinokourov drew motivation from the vote of confidence, hoping to have another successful year in 2011. “This is a great pride for me to be elected as the greatest sportsman of the year in my country,” he said. “This proves that cycling is a very popular sport in Kazakhstan and that the public is aware of the value of my victories, compared to other major Kazakh champions. This is an important title that awards me and it also motivates me for the new season starting.”
Vinokourov also won the Giro del Trentino and stage 13 of the Tour de France, between Rodez and Revel. Still being booed by fans in Liège due to his doping past, he has put more support behind him over the season. He rode a strong Giro d’Italia, finishing second in the points classification and sixth overall. He capped the year with a second place in the Clasica San Sebastian, behind Luis Leon Sanchez but ahead of Carlos Sastre in a three-up sprint.