Cycling: Team Astana is now one of the oldest teams in the peloton. After a good but also difficult year 2017, another upheaval is imminent. Fabio Aru left the team and could not be replaced on an equal footing. Still, Astana has greatly improved in other areas. The Kazakhs can also be expected in 2018.
departures
Fabio Aru (UAE Emirates)
Matti Breschel (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale)
Arman Kamyshev
Paolo Tiralongo (end of career)
Additions
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica Scott)
Omar Fraile (Dimension Data)
Yevgenly Gidich (Vino Astana Motors)
Jan Hirt (CCC Sprandi Polkowice)
Hugo Houle (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac)
Team 2018
BILBAO Pello
BIZHIGITOV Zhandos
CATALDO Dario
CHERNETCKII Sergei
CORT NIELSEN Magnus
DE VREESE Laurens
FOMINYKH Daniil
FRAILE Omar
FUGLSANG Jacob
GATTO Oscar
GIDICH Yevgeniy
GRIVKO Andrei
GRUZDEV Dmitry
HANSEN Jesper
HIRT Jan
HOULE Hugo
KANGERT Tanel
KORSAET Truls
KOZHATAYEV Bakhtiyar
LOPEZ Miguel Angel
LUTSENKO Alexei
MINAL Riccardo
MOSER Moreno
SANCHEZ Luis Leon
STALNOV Nikita
TLEUBAYEV Ruslan
VALGREN Michael
VILLELLA Davide
ZAKHAROV Artyom
ZEITS Andrey
Astana coped well with Vincenzo Nibali's departure
Since 2007, Team Astana has been making its rounds in the cycling circuit. As the successor to the Spanish team Liberty Seguros, the Kazakh team led by Alexander Vinokourov initially stepped in at short notice. Ultimately, however, a long-term commitment should emerge. Numerous successes were achieved with drivers such as Andreas Klöden, Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali. The latter switched to the competition a year ago. Astana was able to absorb his loss. But even after this season, the leader will leave the team. Fabio Aru finished fifth in the Tour de France and won a stage. The Italian champions weren't the only ones to deliver victories, however. Jakob Fuglsang surprisingly won the Critérium du Dauphiné. Organized at the Vuelta a Espana Miguel Angel Lopez stage wins. With Andriy Grivko and Alexey Lutsenko in particular, they were again often represented in breakaway groups and were very active in the peloton – as they have been every season since it was founded.
The world mourns Michele Scarponi
From a purely sporting point of view, 2017 was not a bad year for Team Astana. But sometimes, even in the professional field, sport takes a back seat. This is what happened on April 22nd. Michele Scarponi said goodbye to his wife and children for a training ride in Filottrano at home - and never returned. The Italian had a fatal accident just minutes from his home. The 37-year-old collided head-on with a small van during his training drive. The driver of the car gave Scarponi the right of way. He just didn't see him. After this accident, not only the cycling world, his family and friends mourned, but also the entire sport. In Italy, there was a minute's silence before the start of the Serie A games. Scarponi won the Giro d'Italia in 2011 and Tirreno-Adriatico in 2009. In recent years he has mainly acted as a helper. Thanks to his experience, he was an important part, especially for the younger drivers. Grazie e Ciao, Michele!
2018 will not be an easy year for Astana
Team Astana has repeatedly had to make up for significant departures in recent years. This was achieved in 2017, for example, after Vincenzo Nibali moved to Bahrain-Merida. But in 2018 the task seems to be much more difficult. leader Fabio Aru joins UAE Team Emirates. The Astana team management had not expected this at all, so that a successor could no longer be committed. Now Jakob Fuglsang and Miguel Angel Lopez have to close the gap that has arisen. You wouldn't trust another professional on the team to make it into the top 5 in a Grand Tour. The departures of Matti Breschel, Arman Kamyshev and Paolo Tiralongo don't seem difficult. Except for the loss of Aru, Team Astana has even improved. With Magnus Cort Nielsen, an upcoming top sprinter has been signed. Omar Fraile and Jan Hirt can become important helpers in the mountains. Davide Villella is even more capable. The Italian is considered a great talent and may even mature into a classification driver at some point. Either way: The pretty Astana jersey will be seen a lot in 2018 as well.
Monday training in Altea with group of @jakob_fuglsang #astanaproteam #altea #spain pic.twitter.com/LWEANE0d1X
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) 11 December 2017