Astana Cycling Team

Today's the birthday of Mirko Selvaggi !!!

On this special day Warm & Happy wishes for you from all of astanafans!
Make your dreams come true!

Not long ago, Nickolay Proskurin answered some questions for Astana fans. He had very interesting things to say about some of the new riders and staff, and about his son’s role at the team. He knows the team will keep Alberto Contador safe on the cobbles. And he showed a lot of confidence in the young Kazakhs!

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Nickolay Abramovich, when and where will the presentation of Astana be?

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Astana’s presentation will be around 29-30 January in Vienna. There were plans for having it in Monaco, but there are certain priorities - Kazakhstan is chairing the OSCE this year (the headquarters are in Vienna), plus Kazakhstan may surprise people in Europe, except for Astana being leaders, right?

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At what level will the presentation be—modest or in a big way...with a concert program?

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At a good level. We are not going to have a presentation that’s just a show!

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And what about a presentation in Kazakhstan?

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The team cannot afford to have two presentations. In general, teams rarely hold presentations in the countries in which they belong, they try to hold them...in exotic countries. Read the rest of this entry →

February 3, Stage 1: Aigues Mortes - Le Grau du Roi 146km

Stage 1 Results:

1 Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, 3:42:49
2 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly, 00:00
3 Arnaud Molmy (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole, 00:00

Astana Stage 1:

15 Enrico Gasparotto, 00:00
31 Valeriy Dmitriyev, 00:00
34 Andriy Grivko, 00:00 Read the rest of this entry →

The Astana Cycling Team will start in France in Tour Mediterraneen from 10th to 14th February with the follow roster:

- Assan BAZAYEV (KAZ), Allan DAVIS (AUS), Dmitriy FOFONOV (KAZ), Enrico GASPAROTO (ITA), Maxim IGLINSKIY (KAZ), Mirko SELVAGGI (ITA), Gorazd STANGELJ (SLO), Alexander VINOKOUROV (KAZ)

The team will be led for the occasion by sports director Alexander SHEFER and Dmitriy SEDOUN.

Astana Cycling Team Communication Department

Astana’s European season begins with Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise

The 2010 Astana Cycling Team premiered in Europe today with a roster of eight riders in the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise.

In brief: Course – Marseille to Marseille, 139.7 km. Rugged terrain. Cold weather. Sprint finish.

Fun fact: The winner of the first edition of the GP Marseillaise (1980) was Leo Van Vliet, organizer of the Amstel Curaçao Race.

Results:

1. Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun), 3:34.02
2. Johnny Hoogerland (Vancansoleil), s.t.
3. Samuel Dumolin (Cofidis), s.t.

Astana riders
29. Valeriy Dmitriyev, 00:11
30. Bolalt Raimbekov, 00:11
41. Enrico Gasparotto, 00:11
49. Maxim Gourov, 00:11
93. Óscar Pereiro, 9:21
102. Valentin Iglinskiy, 15:45 (HD)
108. Andriy Grivko, 15:45 (HD)

DNF Scott Davis

The presentation of the team began with this video!!!

Astana Fans interview team soigneur Yuriy Kulishkin

Alberto Contador is now in his third season with Astana. A bright, talented, ambitious rider! Everyone always wants to know more about him, to see all facets of his image. For example, what kind of man is Alberto? Who is in his entourage? How does he behave when he’s not racing?

This is interesting to many people, so we asked our friend, Astana soigneur Yuriy Kulishkin, to share his impression of Alberto with us, because he has had the oppoturnity to keep close track of Alberto for two seasons.

Yura, Contador is probably surrounded by a whole retinue of people, so tell me: who are they?

Personal manager – his brother Fran Contador, personal trainer Pepe Martí, spokesman Pascal Schyns, spokesman Jacinto Vidarte, and his personal staff: mechanic Faustino Munoz and masseur Valentin Doronzoro.

Yes, that’s quite a few, so, in my opinion, Vinokourov might never have had so many…

The whole team was originally created for Vino!

Read the rest of this entry →

Line-up Astana Cycling Team G.P d’Ouverture (31/01) & Etoile de Bessèges (3-7/02)

Riders: Enrico Gasparotto, Andrey Grivko, Maxim Gourov, Valentin Iglinskiy, Scott Davis, Oscar Pereiro, Bolat Raimbekov, Valeriy Dmitriyev

Team Managers: Laurenzo Lapage, Dmitriy Sedoun, Alexander Shefer