Cycling: part two of our WorldTour team check. Unfortunately, today's candidate Astana Pro Team made headlines not only from a sporting point of view in 2015 - although the season was very successful for Nibali, Aru, Landa and Co.
Astana Pro Team overview
That the announcement of the UCI, Astana for 2016 already in the first pass of the licensing process to give the WorldTour license The fact that it was worth reporting at all and generated a media echo that could be heard throughout the cycling world is due to the dubious history of the Kazakh team, which also gained another chapter in 2015. After 2014 three Astana young professionals convicted of doping were standing for several months Deprivation of license for the team of Alexander Vinokurov in space. In the end, the team around Nibali, Aru, Landa and Co. received the coveted license, which, however, was subject to strict requirements.
Exactly what these specifications consisted of – the UCI kept a cloak of silence about it. Licensing seemed to have had nothing to do with membership in the Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible (MPCC), a loose association of dozens of cycling teams against doping with stricter conditions than those of the UCI and WADA themselves. Vinokourov added further damage to the already badly tarnished reputation of the team shortly before the Grand Départ when he did not remove Lars Boom, who should not have started in the tour due to elevated cortisol levels according to MPCC statutes, from the team. The consequence: Astana was kicked out of the anti-doping alliance, which includes almost 70 other professional teams.
Also, Nibali's brief stint as a 'co-driver' on the team vehicle at the Vuelta and the subsequent disqualification do not necessarily cast the best light on Astana. With such background noise, the fact that the team did very well despite Nibali's poor form on the tour is unfortunately almost irrelevant. The Giro was marked by Fabio Aru's sacrificial fight, Mikel Landas sudden rise to maglia-rosa favorites and internal team quarrels, which ultimately led to the rift with Landa and his migration to Sky for 2016. So after Aru had to admit defeat to the strong Contador at home, the still only 25-year-old then got his way at the Vuelta in Madrid his first Grand Tour triumph.
In 2016, Aru will probably celebrate his premiere on the tour. After his 2nd place at the Giro and the victory at the Vuelta this year, he will certainly be one of the favorites at the Grand Boucle - should he be spared form crises and injuries. Nibali is fighting for a new contract - his current working paper expires at the end of the year. The performances of the then 32-year-old and former Tour winner will decide whether he will continue to wear the Astana shirt beyond the season.
Astana Pro Team transfers
Departures: Rein Taaramäe (Team Katusha), Mikel Landa (Team Sky), Borut Bozic (Cofidis), Alexandr Dyachenko (Retired)
Additions: Gatis Smukulis (Katusha), Eros Capecchi (Movistar), Oleg Zemlyakov
Astana Pro Team – team bikes and gear
team bike: As in the previous season, the Kazakh team from Astana will be on wheels from the US manufacturer Specialized in 2016 as well. The successful model is on the road Specialized Tarmac that, in 2015, included Peter Sagan to the world championship title, Contador to the maglia rosa and Fabio Aru to the triumph in Madrid. Depending on the course and driver, we will certainly also use the new one Specialized Venge can be observed in competition, as well as the drivers on the cobblestones of Roubaix probably on the same name Specialized Roubaix will fall back. In the fight against the clock, on the other hand, the choice should be that Specialized Shiv fall.
components: The traditional Italian manufacturer is responsible for the components at Astana Campagnolo responsible and for the wheels they rely on the relatively small manufacturer Corima from France. Almost all of the riders used Campa's electronic EPS Super Record groupset in the previous season and nothing will change in 2016 - the 2016s EPS v3 group only offers better frame integration - otherwise everything stays the same.
disc brakes: While Astana owns one of the outfitters for wheels and frames with Specialized, who are already very advanced in the field of disc brakes and with the Tarmac Disc and also the Roubaix Disc have two potential frames to offer, the brakes themselves still look poor. Campagnolo had recently announced the introduction of its own disc brakes, but even if they were to be launched in time for the classic season, riders would still not have had any training or experience. After all: Corima already has a disc wheelset for the road in its range. Our assumption therefore: We will probably see most Astana pros in 2016 with rim brakes.