Astana Cycling Team

We wish you all the best! We hope all your dreams will come true! Be healthy and wealthy! And the most important we wish you this year wear the pink jersey instead of this white and win ....

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Top-class team will ride for Roman Kreuziger

Pro Team Astana have unveiled the nine riders who will represent the team at the Giro d’Italia. The squad will be captained by Roman Kreuziger, who will line up alongside Alexandr Dyachenko, Enrico Gasparotto, Tanel Kangert, Evgueny Petrov, Simone Ponzi, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Paolo Tiralongo and Andrey Zeits.

Commenting on the selection, Team Manager Giuseppe Martinelli said: “Choosing the nine starters was not an easy task. Shefer, Sedoun and I waited until the last possible moment so we could assess the condition of each and every rider as well as possible.

“The decision came down to those who have got the best skills for assisting Roman Kreuziger to get a big result. We will be lining up with a really tight squad, which will be aiming above all for the general classification but which will also have the ability to make an impression in the stages.”

Astana directeur sportif Guido Bontempi will take charge of the Giro squad alongside fellow DS Alexandr Shefer, who gave us his view: “Roman Kreuziger is our only captain and, as Mr Martinelli said, all the others will be riding for him. Read the rest of this entry →

Today Kazakhstani rider Maxim Iglinsky held a conference about his win in Liege Bastogne Liege and met with his fans and journalists.

Liege Bastogne Liege:
Maxim told how in the very last kilometers of the race he made it in the break with Joaquim Rodriguez. Katyusha rider asked him to hold his tempo down a little and race for the 2nd and 3d places (at the moment they only one ahead of them was Nibali from "Liquigas"). While Maxim was just about to ask Rodriguez the same, he understood that this was a moment of weakness and remembering Vinokourov's advices (Alexandre called him personally this very same morning) attacked. Read the rest of this entry →

30/04/12

Video interview with Jani Brajkovic

Jani Brajkovic [fan site]'s Blog

"Two stage races are behind me, Paris-Nice and Catalunya. I can't be too satisfied with the GC, though things at Catalunya were a bit better than at Paris-Nice, but it's not what i had wanted for the start of the season. Anyway, the stage win gave me motivation, things are getting better, the shape is improving. I hope to be much more competitive in April.
I wanted to achieve some nice result in the beginning of the season already, to be calm as the Tour comes closer, but unfortunately things didn't go the way they should. This win at Catalunya is a consolation for the unsuccess, but still I remain optimistic, I do what I can, so I hope results will come soon, too.
On Sunday, I leave for Pais Vasco, then two more classics - Fleche and Liege. In May, I'm off to Colorado to train there for a month, then the Tour de Slovenie, and before that, Dauphine." Read the rest of this entry →

Jani Brajkovic [fan site]'s Blog

Determined and sure. This is how we can describe Jani Brajkovič before the start of the season. Determined to get revenge for last years' crash that made him abandon the Tour de France. Sure that he can compete with the best in the race of his life, the race he had dreamed of when he was a child. Sure of his abilities. Sure that all he needs is a little luck... He already has strong legs, after all he too has a team that granted him all the support - Astana.

What does the move from RadioSchack to Astana mean to you?
New team, new people, new riders. The system is a bit different, but I like the way manager Guiseppe Martinelli works. You can discuss anything with him. When we're working, we're giving it all. The training camp in Calpe - not that I'm praising, but I think it's been my best training camp. We trained very well, and at the same time we got along fine with the other riders. Actually, I enjoyed those two weeks very much.

How would you compare Discovery Channel, RadioSchack and Astana?
I'll miss English. At Astana, the language is Italian, which is probably good as I'll learn it. The structure of the team itself isn't that different. Read the rest of this entry →

The Tirreno-Adriatico has drawn to a close after a tough week of cycling across Italy, from Tuscany to Le Marche. Roman Kreuziger finished the race on the podium, taking third place in the general classification. The Astana rider was among the leaders throughout the race, taking second place at the Chieti and Prati di Tivo stages, while maintaining an enduring presence towards the top of the general classification. The successful campaign provides the best possible start to Kreuziger’s preparation ahead of the upcoming Giro d’Italia.

Speaking about the race, Astana DS Alexandr Shefer said: “We remained hopeful of winning right until the end, but we knew that today it would be very difficult. We are happy with the result: a podium-finish in such a famous stage race is always impressive. Roman only has a few races in his legs at the moment, having not competed in such a long stage race since last year’s Tour. Here he has shown me that he has good consistency over races lasting several days. I talked to him a little while ago and he accepted that he had been beaten by an opponent who was stronger on this occasion. He is disappointed not to have got the victory that would have been just rewards for the excellent work of his teammates this week, but he is already ready to get stuck into the next races.”

11/03/2012 - Paris-Nice 2012

Hello my friends from Kazakhstan,

It’s been a long time since I was last in touch, but now I have some news as we have just followed the final three stages of the Paris-Nice race in the footsteps of Astana Pro Team.

Just before the departure of Suze-la-Rousse, Dima Fofonov, who had high temperature, had to quit the race and returned home in Clermont-Ferrand. It’s a pity because we love him. We just had time to say good-bye.

Dima Fofonov just before he left the race

After leaving the beautiful little mountain town of Sisteron we went straight to the French Riviera and the queen city of Nice where the arrival was set on the majestuous and world famous Promenade des Anglais. The sun was shining on the pure glittering water of the Mediterranean sea and the race attracted a huge crowd. But our problem was we could not find the Astana bus among all the team buses parked along the beach.

At last, we spotted one Astana team car driven by our close friend, soigneur Dima Borysov. Soon we were joined by Yuri Kulishkin who recently returned from Tour of Langkawi where he accompanied our star: Alexander Vinokurov. Yuri always follows Vino wherever he races. Yuri who is at home in Nice, was offwork, and we were very happy to see him again. We love him. Soon arrived Andrey Misurov who was watching the race with his family since he also lives in the neighbourhood. It seems that the whole of Kazakh citizens living in France are located on the Cote d’Azur. Read the rest of this entry →

SIMONE PONZI CALLED UP FOR ITALIAN NATIONAL TEAM TRAINING

Pro Team Astana rider to join Azzurri training camp from Tuesday to Thursday

Milan, Italy, 28th February, 2012 – Simone Ponzi's adventure with Italy’s senior national team begins today. The Pro Team Astana rider has been selected for coach Paolo Bettini's training camp in Venturina (Italy) until Friday, after which he will re-join Astana for the Strade Bianche on Saturday.

Speaking about his call-up, Ponzi said: “I am very happy to have received my first call-up as a professional. I have already taken part in four World Championships in the junior category but this is a different feeling altogether, even if it is just for a get-together at the moment. The camp will allow us to get to know each other better and build team spirit. It is a great honour for me to be considered for the national team. This year there are the Olympics as well as the World Championships and I want to do as well as possible so that I can be selected.” Read the rest of this entry →