Vinokourov tops Chrono des Nations

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Twenty four hours after shining in the Giro di Lombardia, Alexandre Vinokourov has claimed his most prestigious win since his comeback after serving a two-year doping suspension. The 36-year-old Kazakh won the 48.5km Chrono des Nations time trial today in Les Herbiers in the west of France. He covered the distance in 1:00:09, a superb effort considering the headwind towards the end of the race.

The Asian time trial champion bested French time trial champion Jean-Christophe Péraud and Ukrainian specialist Yuriy Krivtsov (AG2r-La Mondiale), while Belgian champion Maxime Monfort (Columbia-HTC) also honoured his jersey despite having finished the Tour of Lombardy with the flu.

"I wanted to finish the season on a high note for Astana", said Vinokourov who had also won the time trial in the Tour de l'Ain in August as soon as he resumed racing. "I started strongly and I had good legs till the end. I still felt strong at the finish. I came here highly motivated to win."

The Kazakh completed the course 49 second faster than last year's winner Stef Clement who was unable to defend his title due to a foot operation. Vinokourov, however, didn't beat Laszlo Bodrogi's record of 59:18 set two years in extremely favourable conditions.

"Beating Vinokourov was just impossible today", Krivtsov said. "I'm always motivated for this race. This is what I like the most in cycling."

Péraud concluded his day in Vendée with satisfaction. "The course wasn't exactly my favourite because I prefer changes of rhythm. I haven't lost much of my condition compared to the world championship three and half weeks ago where I finished 12th. There was no way I could ride faster than Vinokourov but I'm happy to remain the best Frenchman in the time trial."

Florian Morizot of Besson Chaussures was surprise finisher in 5th position just ahead of Agritubel's David Le Lay who earned the bronze medal at the French championship in June.

Tour of Lombardy winner Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) received a warm welcome from the big crowd at Les Herbiers. He started the race strongly and held second position only four seconds behind Vinokourov after 10km while Monfort was third at seven seconds. But with the exception of Vinokourov, the riders who had competed in the Giro di Lombardia the previous day lost several position as the time trial progressed.

French directeur sportif Alain Gallopin was delighted to conclude his job at Astana with a win before joining RadioShack with Johan Bruyneel. "It's a pleasure to work with a professional like Vinokourov", said the man who directed Alberto Contador to victory in three Grand Tours.