Astana Team

In the final year of his successful career, Alexandre Vinokourov will return to the race where it all started for him fifteen years ago: Le Tour de Langkawi . The Kazakh super star will lead the Astana Pro Team in the Malaysian UCI 2.HC event from February 24 to March 4. “I’ve always wanted to do this race again but it was never on my team’s calendar or appropriate for my race schedule”, said Vinokourov who took part in the second edition of Le Tour de Langkawi in 1997. A member of the Kazakh...Read Full Story

May 3, 2011 by Tim The Giro d’Italia , the first of the year’s three Grand Tours, kicks off on Saturday with 198 riders representing 22 teams set to take the start line for the opening team time trial in Turin. Many fans will be familiar with the main riders in the peloton, but have you ever wondered who the mysterious sponsors whose names are plastered all over every available square inch of the riders and their equipment are? As the opening instalment of my preview for the race, here...Read Full Story

2011 Giro d’Italia results, stage 3 , In a day marked by catastrophe, Angel Vicioso of the Androni Giaticolli team got the win in stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia 2011. Monday’s stage of the Giro d’Italia was 173 km from Reggio Emilia to the shore at Rapallo. There was only one significant increase in the day, 957m Passo del Bocco, the summit came just 40 km from the finish of the race. 150 to 164 kilometers, a small increase, which can be used to throw things up just before the final descent...Read Full Story

PARIS (Reuters) - Once again, Alberto Contador is the Tour de France favorite and, once again, Lance Armstrong stands in his way. Although Luxembourg's Andy Schleck seems to be his main challenger, Armstrong will lead a very strong RadioShack team that could, if they do not help their man to win the Tour, cause havoc in the three-week race and deny Contador a third title. Spaniard Contador is the best climber and one of the top time trialists and Armstrong, who was third overall last year in...Read Full Story

Valentin Iglinskiy News is coming in that Valentin Iglinskiy and his brother Maxim were stopped for speeding by French police on Tuesday night. Tests showed the 27-year-old Team Astana rider Valentin to be over the legal driving limit for alcohol and positive for cocaine (according to French RTL radio). Maxim, who rode in this year's Tour de France which finished on Sunday, was arrested and taken into police custody, says French website Cyclism'Actu . The Kazakh-born brothers, who now...Read Full Story

It looks like Alberto Contador ( Saxo Bank ) has the maglia rosa secured, but if anythign’s certain in cycling , it’s that nothing’s certain! History has taught that the 242kms from Verbania to Sestriere that marks Saturday’s Stage 20 could be a quite decisive.   The Colle dell Finestre, that appears towards the end of the stage, almost cost Paolo Savoldelli the pink jersey in 2005.  Could similar drama unfold this year? Where are we? Verbania was formed with Intra and Pallanza combined in...Read Full Story

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will leave Astana at the end of this season after the Spanish cyclist rejected the team's offer to extend his contract. Contador said Wednesday he will study his options before deciding which team to ride for next season. "Alberto Contador has rejected the Astana team's ultimatum, which had asked for an answer on its renewal offer on the upcoming seasons by Tuesday," Contador said in a statement. "Alberto Contador will calmly study all of the...Read Full Story

Johan Bruyneel has a new team but an old feeling as he gets ready to go for a 10th Tour de France title this year. Bruyneel helped lead Lance Armstrong to seven straight Tour de France titles from 1999-2005. He also won eight team Tour titles with USPS and Discovery before winning with Astana last year. Now, he is the director of Armstrong's newly formed RadioShack Cycling Team and said he's happy to have total control after a tough year with Astana. "It's my team, it's the team I built, and...Read Full Story

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador Tuesday took to the treacherous cobbled roads of northern France that he admitted could dent his bid for a third yellow jersey this year. The 97th edition of the world's toughest bike race will start in the Dutch port of Rotterdam on July 3 and snake its way down through Belgium and into northern France before heading for the first mountain stages in the Alps. Stage four between Danze in Belgium to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, near Valenciennes in...Read Full Story

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong will find it hard to sustain his challenge in the latter stages of this year's Tour de France, Alberto Contador's manager said on Sunday. Armstrong, seven-times Tour champion, took a promising fourth place in the 8.9-kms prologue in Rotterdam on Saturday, the best result by one of the leading Tour contenders. Contador, the Spanish defending champion, had to settle for sixth place, five seconds behind his American rival. But Astana chief Yvon Sanquer...Read Full Story