Cycling: Team Astana has stood for an offensive and attractive driving style for years. This will not change in 2020, even if some strong drivers have left the team.
Astana 2019: Fuglsang and co. get 39 wins
The Kazakh racing team Astana has been one of the most successful in road cycling for years. This has not changed in 2019 either. By the end of February, 13 victories had already been won, including the overall victories in the Tour of Oman due to Alexey Lutsenko, in the Colombia Tour due to Miguel Angel Lopez and at the Vuelta a Murcia due to Luis Leon Sanchez.
Then the success story of Jakob Fuglsang. The Dane had the strongest season of his career. After his overall victory at the Ruta Del Sol and a stage win at Tirreno – Adriatico, he won Liège – Bastogne – Liège and drove at Amstel Gold Race and the Walloon Arrow on the podium. He also won the Critérium du Dauphiné and the eleventh and 16th stages of the Vuelta a Espana. He only finished the Tour de France without a smile because he had to return home after a fall.
Despite his numerous successes, Jakob Fuglsang was not alone in the limelight. Miguel Angel Lopez won the Tour of Catalonia, Ion Izaguirre the Tour of the Basque Country. Pello Bilbao and Dario Cataldo were able to win parts of the Giro d'Italia and Luis Leon Sanchez at the Tour de Suisse. The Astana team also won the Vuelta team time trial.
Transfers: The core of the team remains
There have been many personnel changes in Team Astana in recent years. However, the philosophy of the cyan team has never changed. With an offensive driving style, they will therefore delight us in the 2020 season as well. Even well-known departures do not change that, because the core of the team remains the same. Dario Cataldo, Magnus Cort Nielsen and Pello Bilbao were able to achieve success in the past, but were never among the front row of the team. Davide Villella, Andrey Zeits, Jan Hirt and Davide Ballerini convinced mostly as loyal helpers.
In return, the seven departures are offset by seven newcomers. These fit perfectly into the Astana concept. Without going into the race as the top favourites, they will be able to enrich it with an offensive driving style. The Italians Fabio Felline and Davide Martinelli will present themselves as actively in groups as the Spaniards Alex Aranburu and Oscar Rodriguez. The Russian Alexander Vlasov is said to have great potential while the Kazakhs Vadim Pronsky and the Colombian Harold Tejada probably still have to gain a foothold in professional cycling.
Astana 2020: The motto remains the offensive
Many great teams in road cycling's past – and present – can be accused of neutralizing races and taking the excitement out of them. This is not the case for Team Astana. On the contrary. For years, the professionals dressed in cyan have been making sure that the course of the race is interesting. This will not change in 2020 either. The squad is made to be active in one-day races and to present itself in groups at tours. Nevertheless, one hopes in the house of Astana in the person of Miguel Angel Lopez the big hit on a Grand Tour. Jakob Fuglsang – who has long been regarded as the future winner of a major state tour – will probably again focus primarily on the demanding one-day races. And the rest of the team - and this is definitely not meant to be derogatory - can bring excitement and success to almost every race.
Check out the full Astana squad here.
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