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PRO TEAM ASTANA (AST) - KAZ

The light blue and yellow Astana jersey stands out in the peloton and we can again expect to see the colours flash first across the line in 2011, proudly showing the colours of Kazakhstan cycling in the UCI WorldTour.

Alberto Contador is no longer in the team but leader Alexander Vinokourov has been joined by Roman Kreuziger and several other interesting new signings that will make the team more competitive in the sprints and classics.

Vinokourov is now 37 but he has no intention of slowing down. In 2010 Vino blasted his way to victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He also won the 13th stage of the Tour de France to Revel after missing out the day before in Mende. He also dominated the Giro del Trentino and was second in the Clásica San Sebastián.

Vino is perhaps past his best for the overall classification but will again target the Tour de France, while Kreuziger first targets the Giro d'Italia. The 24 year-old Czech rider has finished ninth in the last two editions of the Tour de France and can surely do better in Italy as he matures and gains experience.

Astana had Allan Davis and Enrico Gasparotto for the sprints in 2010 but will also have Mirco Lorenzetto, Simon Clarke and Tomas Vaitkus for 2011. They can all win or combine their strengths to make a highly effective lead-out train.

Climbers Francesco Masciarelli, Remy Di Gregorio and Evgeni Petrov will all be able to offer valuable support to Kreuziger but can also win races and stages themselves, while Paolo Tiralongo will be a precious and highly experienced road captain.

“We’re thinking about the general classification in the Tour de France, why not?» Vinokourov stated. “We won’t give up on the battle for the overall before the start. We will fight for the yellow jersey, and after that, the mountain jersey, team classification or important stages. But the big goal is to fight for a place on the podium.”