Milano-Sanremo:
- 1st (E. Gasparotto)
- 4th (B. Bozic)
Continental races (GC or 1-day race wins):
- Volta ao Algarve (V. Nibali)
- Tour of Oman (J. Fuglsang)
- Roma Maxima (E. Gasparotto)
Spoiler
Technical details:
Database - PCM.Daily 2013 (adjusted)
Difficulty - Hard
Development - 0.3
STA_cyclist_progression - 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.33, 2
Self-made XML files for young riders
No screenshots
Welcome to the presentation of Astana Pro Team! Under new management of Olympic champion Alexander Vinokourov, Astana is full of ambition for the 2013 season and will proudly represent the values and sportsmanship of the people of Kazachstan. In the light of recent events involving former Astana rider Lance Armstrong, let it immediately be clear that these values do not include doping or any other way of cheating. This is why the team has joined the MPCC and there will be a zero tolerance policy towards abuse of illegal substances.
2013 will be a year of a renewal for Astana. Six riders have left the team, while Dmitriy Fofonov and Alexander Vinokourov ended their active careers and are now part of the staff. In return, Astana has signed nine new riders in the off-season, including Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang, Andrea Guardini and Kazachstan's hope for a bright cycling future: U23 world champion Alexey Lutsenko. Shortly after the start of the season, Branislau Samoilau was added to the team roster as well.
The main target for Astana in 2013 will be the Tour de France, which we hope to win with Nibali on a more suitable parcours than last year. Our other main objectives are the Ardennes classics, where we would like to see Gasparotto and Iglinskiy repeat their victories of 2012. Apart from these major targets, the team wants to be competitive in World Tour races throughout the season, although we realise that success on the cobblestones will be very difficult to achieve. Lower ranked races will only be used for preparation of World Tour events.
As our website has been down for maintenance for quite a while, it's about time to give you an update about the first part of the season. Our apologies for the lack of timely information, but let's just say that we are better at cycling than at IT.
Astana kicked off the season brilliantly in the Tour Down Under. Already in the first stage the team could celebrate a victory, because Francesco Gavazzi managed to sprint to victory after a hilly finale. In the second stage, Enrico Gasparotto attacked on the final climb and nobody followed him. He barely managed to fend off the peloton, but he succeeded and gave us a second stage win. If that wasn't enough already, Gasparotto had the most powerful uphill sprint in the third stage, which made him win again and take over Gavazzi's leader jersey.
The fourth stage was not as suitable for Gasparotto, but Astana set up a nice sprint train for Guardini. A perfect lead-out from Guarnieri and a powerful punch in the last 700 meters gained our new sprinter his first win for Astana. The fifth stage was the queen's stage to Willunga Hill, where once again Gasparotto powered away on the final climb and nobody was able to follow. To finish it off, Guardini won the final criterium in a second mass sprint, making sure that Astana collected all the stages and the final GC!
After our success in Australia, the team took a break to start competing again in Oman and the Algarve. In Oman, Fuglsang secured the final victory after ending third on the Green Mountain, but beating his main rivals the next day in the echelons. In the Algarve, Nibali showed a decent performance uphill and managed to finish it off in the time trial. Next we went to Italy, where poor Kessiakoff got caught by Bakelants in the last 50 meters of Strade Bianche and Gasparotto took revenge the next day by winning Roma Maxima.
In the meanwhile, Paris-Nice started, where Fuglsang was going for the GC. Our Danish captain started very strongly by powering to 4th place in the prologue, only a few second behind winner Cancellara. However, in the end this wasn't enough. Fuglsang did what he could, attacking in the hills over and over again, mainly together with Horner, but in the end there was always a group sprint deciding about the stage. Immensely frustrating, especially since all the guys ahead of Fuglsang in the prologue got dropped at some point, but others got the better of him by gaining bonification seconds. In the end, Sandy Casar won the race, ahead of Tony Gallopin and a disillusioned Jakob Fuglsang. Good times for French cycling though.
Fortunately, Tirreno-Adriatico wasn't as dull as Paris-Nice. The race kicked off with a tough hilly stage, in which Astana set the pace and made it a very rough day. Eventually, Nibali attacked and only at the finish line Nocentini and Marcato got to his back wheel. The rest was already more than a minute down. The next day, Greipel won the mass sprint, but the third stage was very hard again. Astana once again set the pace with Kangert and Kessiakoff hurting the peloton on the main climb of the day. After that, Nibali could attack in the downhill and finish it off with a solo finish on top of the final hill.
Stage 4 was for Greipel again before getting back into the hills with stage 5. On the way to L'Aquila, everything got foggy with dropped riders being all over the final (short) circuit, which confused Nibali. Valverde, who won the stage, and Nocentini anticipated smartly and took some time on Nibali, while putting minutes into Marcato, who was still on the podium until then. With just a small lead for Nibali, Astana took charge of the queen's stage with an amazing effort from Grivko. After the Ukrainian powerhouse reduced the peloton to 35 riders, Kangert took over and launched Nibali for his attack. It was a bit early though and Nibali got reeled back in by a small group, out of which Dan Martin attacked on the sterrato of the final climb. Nibali kept to his own pace and caught the Irishman in the downhill. He thought he could win his third stage, but Nocentini joined the leading duo and outsprinted them. Bummer. However, no time was lost and in the final time trial, won by Richie Porte, Nibali expanded his lead some more to take the GC. As this race was done with six of the guys who are planned for the Tour de France, Astana is happy to have won after such a dominant ride.
The last race Astana rode during the downtime was Milano-Sanremo. There was an interesting early breakaway involving Samuel Sanchez and Dan Martin, but when Grivko decided to power the peloton over the Capi, their chances were gone. Then there was the major surprise on the Cipressa: Sagan attacked! Nibali tried to follow, but the gap was already too big and he dropped back into the peloton, helping Vacansoleil to catch the Slovakian phenomenon. At the foot of the Poggio, they finally reeled him in and Gasparotto attacked. Boom tried to counter, but couldn't follow the wheel of the Astana rider. It looked like a pointless attack, but when Vacansoleil stopped the chase, the peloton got disorganised and the gap grew rapidly. So Enrico Gasparotto could enjoy the finest day of his career so far in the streets of Sanremo, celebrating a beautiful solo victory. Almost two minutes behind in the peloton, Bozic got launched perfectly by Gavazzi, but had to settle for fourth place as Goss and Degenkolb were faster.
To summarize, the World Tour podiums so far:
Tour Down Under:
1. E. Gasparotto (Astana)
2. J. Voigt (RadioShack)
3. F. Gavazzi (Astana)
Paris-Nice:
1. S. Casar (FDJ)
2. T. Gallopin (RadioShack)
3. J. Fuglsang (Astana)
Tirreno-Adriatico:
1. V. Nibali (Astana)
2. R. Nocentini (AG2R)
3. A. Valverde (Movistar)
Milano-Sanremo:
1. E. Gasparotto (Astana)
2. M. Goss (Orica)
3. J. Degenkolb (Argos)
From now on, the renewed Astana website will keep you updated on a regular basis and we hope to share more victories with you soon!
Edited by Blueprint on 28-01-2014 06:10
Sorry for the wall of text, tried rushing through the early season from before Shonak asked me to start a story about Astana. From now on, reports will be nicer, on a race-by-race basis and with more detailed results. I hate dealing with screenshots, so they will not be part of this story.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Even though no racing has been done over the weekend, Astana has some small news to share.
First of all, contracts with Vanotti, Bazayev, Guarnieri, Grivko and Zeits have been renewed, so they will definitely not be leaving the team after this season. Contracts of Seeldraeyers and Huffman will most likely not be extended, while team management is still negotiating with Gavazzi and Bozic.
Secondly, the UCI has decided that having 19 World Tour teams is too much, so only one ProContinental team will be promoted to the World Tour after this season, while two World Tour teams will be relegated. Obviously, this won't affect the Astana team, but we decided to share the news anyway.
Last, but not least: Tom Boonen crashed out of Milano-Sanremo and broke a rib. Bad news for the Belgian fans, because their superstar will miss all the cobbled classics. Now the question is: who's going to stop Fabian Cancellara?
Oh my, Boonen crashes out. That's not good for them. But Omega Pharma has a strong enough team to sweep the podium regardless. Spartacus might be in for a one-man show though.
Great new contract for the guys!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
After a successful early spring campaign, Astana is starting to prepare for the major classics in April. The riders for the Ardennes classics have gathered in Spain, where they will ride the Volta a Catalunya, GP Miguel Indurain, Vuelta a la Rioja, Vuelta al País Vasco and Klasika Primavera. After that, they will go northwards for the Brabantse Pijl and their major season targets: Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
The Ardennes team consists of Enrico Gasparotto and Francesco Gavazzi, who have been riding together since the Tour Down Under, as well as Maxim Iglinskiy, Alexander Dyachenko, Andrey Zeits, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Alexey Lutsenko and Branislau Samoilau. This group of riders started the season in the Tour of Taiwan, where Iglinskiy won a stage. Winning stages is also what we want to do in Catalunya. The hilly profile should suit our riders, but, due to a tough mountain stage, fierce competition and our riders not being in top condition yet, we have no ambitions for the GC.
Edited by Blueprint on 28-01-2014 06:35
It was a nice, sunny spring day in Spain and the riders were up for a short, hilly ride from and to Calella. This inspired our talented youngster, Alexey Lutsenko, to try slipping into the breakaway, but all his attempts were neutralized by the peloton. Eventually, a small group with Michal Golas (Omega Pharma), Marcos Garcia (Caja Rural) and Branislau Samoilau got the peloton's blessing to score some TV time. Golas was clearly the strongest and rightfully took all the mountain sprints. The others were just suffering in his wheel, unable to make a move.
After the breakaway got reeled in shortly before the top of the final climb of the day, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) decided to test his legs, but found Enrico Gasparotto on his wheel. This demotivated the Spaniard, who dropped back into the peloton, leaving Gasparotto to fight off a chasing peloton on his own. This obviously failed, but after he lost the battle, a group with Maxim Iglinskiy, Geschke (Argos), Urtasun (Euskaltel) and Bardet (AG2R) attacked. These guys also didn't make it though and then Florencio (Katusha) put in a powerful punch, followed by Francesco Gavazzi. The two got a nice gap, but in the final kilometers, the peloton got awfully close. About 100 meters before the finish, the leaders were overtaken and Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) beat Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R) to the line. Both riders are having a very strong season so far. Marcato's team mate Bole completed the podium after doing a perfect lead-out.
Even though Astana has been fighting hard on this day and things were looking good after Gavazzi's attack, the team ends up empty-handed. As Gavazzi suggested, it may have been better to just pace the peloton and neutralize all the attacks, so he would have had a shot in the sprint. However, we still did better than Ivan Basso, Nairo Quintana, Michal Kwiatkowski, Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Denis Menchov, who didn't finish in the first peloton of 81 riders.
Result:
1
Marco Marcato
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
3h29'33
2
Rinaldo Nocentini
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
3
Grega Bole
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Egoitz García
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
5
Michael Rogers
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
6
Francesco Gavazzi
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
7
Pablo Urtasun
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
8
Christophe Riblon
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
9
Xavier Florencio
Katusha Team
s.t.
10
Matteo Tosatto
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
Spoiler
11 Manuel Belletti AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
12 Javier Moreno Movistar Team s.t.
13 Simon Geschke Team Argos - Shimano s.t.
14 Bruno Pires Team Saxo - Tinkoff s.t.
15 Gorka Izagirre Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
16 Rob Ruijgh Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
17 Maxim Iglinskiy Astana Pro Team s.t.
18 Jens Voigt RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
19 Dominik Nerz BMC Racing Team s.t.
20 David Millar Garmin - Sharp s.t.
21 Michal Golas Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
22 Romain Bardet AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
23 Sonny Colbrelli Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
24 Bert-Jan Lindeman Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
25 Rubén Pérez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
26 Vasil Kiryienka Sky Procycling s.t.
27 Rubén Plaza Movistar Team s.t.
28 Tejay Van Garderen BMC Racing Team s.t.
29 Matthias Frank BMC Racing Team s.t.
30 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team Saxo - Tinkoff s.t.
31 Michele Scarponi Lampre - Merida s.t.
32 Peter Velits Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
33 Ricardo García Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
34 Przemyslaw Niemiec Lampre - Merida s.t.
35 Tony Martin Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
36 Andrey Amador Movistar Team s.t.
37 Peter Kennaugh Sky Procycling s.t.
38 Daniele Pietropolli Lampre - Merida s.t.
39 Giovanni Visconti Movistar Team s.t.
40 Jure Kocjan Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
41 Cameron Meyer Orica - GreenEdge s.t.
42 Peter Stetina Garmin - Sharp s.t.
43 José Serpa Lampre - Merida s.t.
44 Enrico Gasparotto Astana Pro Team s.t.
45 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo - Tinkoff s.t.
46 Danilo Wyss BMC Racing Team s.t.
47 Joaquím Rodríguez Katusha Team s.t.
48 Martijn Keizer Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
49 Richie Porte Sky Procycling s.t.
50 Ivan Santaromita BMC Racing Team s.t.
51 Iván Gutiérrez Movistar Team s.t.
52 Brian Bulgac Lotto Belisol s.t.
53 Alexandre Geniez FDJ s.t.
54 Stefano Pirazzi Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
55 Benoît Vaugrenard FDJ s.t.
56 Pavel Brutt Katusha Team s.t.
57 Bart De Clercq Lotto Belisol s.t.
58 Marco Canola Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
59 Alexey Lutsenko Astana Pro Team s.t.
60 Maxim Belkov Katusha Team s.t.
61 Tiago Machado RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
62 Andrea Pasqualon Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
63 Jérémy Roy FDJ s.t.
64 Kevin Seeldraeyers Astana Pro Team s.t.
65 Rafael Valls Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
66 Tony Gallopin RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
67 Dirk Bellemakers Lotto Belisol s.t.
68 Stef Clement Blanco Pro Cycling Team s.t.
69 Stefano Locatelli Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
70 Andrey Zeits Astana Pro Team s.t.
71 Juan José Cobo Movistar Team s.t.
72 Alberto Losada Katusha Team s.t.
73 Kenny Elissonde FDJ s.t.
74 Alexsandr Dyachenko Astana Pro Team s.t.
75 Bradley Wiggins Sky Procycling s.t.
76 Wilco Kelderman Blanco Pro Cycling Team s.t.
77 Pello Bilbao Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
78 Ben King RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
79 Sérgio Paulinho Team Saxo - Tinkoff s.t.
80 Jesús Herrada Movistar Team s.t.
81 Benjamín Noval Team Saxo - Tinkoff s.t.
82 Ivan Basso Cannondale Pro Cycling + 1'36
83 Geoffrey Soupe FDJ s.t.
84 Marcos García Caja Rural s.t.
85 Amets Txurruka Caja Rural s.t.
86 Miguel Mínguez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
87 Branislau Samoilau Astana Pro Team s.t.
88 Nairo Quintana Movistar Team s.t.
89 Javier Francisco Aramendia Caja Rural + 2'23
90 Ben Swift Sky Procycling + 5'38
91 Matthew Goss Orica - GreenEdge s.t.
92 Daniel Oss BMC Racing Team s.t.
93 Michael Matthews Orica - GreenEdge s.t.
94 Davide Cimolai Lampre - Merida s.t.
95 Kanstantsin Siutsou Sky Procycling s.t.
96 Tomas Vaitkus Orica - GreenEdge + 9'12
97 Luke Durbridge Orica - GreenEdge s.t.
98 Paolo Longo Borghini Cannondale Pro Cycling s.t.
99 Sacha Modolo Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
100 Elia Viviani Cannondale Pro Cycling s.t.
101 Leonardo Duque Colombia s.t.
102 Fabio Sabatini Cannondale Pro Cycling s.t.
103 Leigh Howard Orica - GreenEdge s.t.
104 Giacomo Nizzolo RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
105 Luka Mezgec Team Argos - Shimano + 10'00
106 Vladimir Isaychev Katusha Team s.t.
107 Andrea Palini Lampre - Merida s.t.
108 Murilo Fischer FDJ s.t.
109 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg Team Argos - Shimano s.t.
110 Cyril Lemoine Sojasun s.t.
111 Nikolas Maes Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
112 Theo Bos Blanco Pro Cycling Team s.t.
113 Roy Curvers Team Argos - Shimano s.t.
114 Anthony Ravard AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
115 Manuel Cardoso Caja Rural s.t.
116 Nathan Haas Garmin - Sharp s.t.
117 Danny Van Poppel Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
118 Julien Simon Sojasun s.t.
119 Michal Kwiatkowski Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
120 Danny Pate Sky Procycling s.t.
121 Evaldas Siskevicius Sojasun s.t.
122 Francisco Javier Moreno Caja Rural s.t.
123 Kristjan Koren Cannondale Pro Cycling s.t.
124 Matteo Trentin Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
125 Steve Chainel AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
126 Tobias Ludvigsson Team Argos - Shimano s.t.
127 Bram Tankink Blanco Pro Cycling Team s.t.
128 Fumiyuki Beppu Orica - GreenEdge s.t.
129 Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team s.t.
130 Juan Manuel Gárate Blanco Pro Cycling Team s.t.
131 Jack Bobridge Blanco Pro Cycling Team s.t.
132 George Preidler Team Argos - Shimano s.t.
133 Daniel Navarro Cofidis, Solutions Crédits s.t.
134 Rémi Pauriol Sojasun s.t.
135 Ryder Hesjedal Garmin - Sharp s.t.
136 Wouter Mol Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
137 Massimo Graziato Lampre - Merida s.t.
138 Jorge Azanza Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
139 Kristof Vandewalle Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
140 Hugo Houle AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
141 Juan Pablo Valencia Colombia s.t.
142 Timothy Duggan Team Saxo - Tinkoff s.t.
143 Andy Schleck RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
144 Donato De Ieso Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
145 Christian Vande Velde Garmin - Sharp s.t.
146 Alexey Tsatevitch Katusha Team + 13'44
147 Robert Hunter Garmin - Sharp s.t.
148 Ramon Sinkeldam Team Argos - Shimano s.t.
149 Mitchell Docker Orica - GreenEdge s.t.
150 Danilo Hondo RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
151 Sebastian Lander BMC Racing Team s.t.
152 Matthias Krizek Cannondale Pro Cycling s.t.
153 Matthew Hayman Sky Procycling s.t.
154 Kenny Dehaes Lotto Belisol s.t.
155 Vicente Reynès Lotto Belisol s.t.
156 Arnaud Labbe Cofidis, Solutions Crédits s.t.
157 Andreas Klier Garmin - Sharp s.t.
158 Jens Debusschere Lotto Belisol s.t.
159 Davide Appollonio AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
160 Anthony Geslin FDJ s.t.
161 Adrien Petit Cofidis, Solutions Crédits s.t.
162 Stéphane Poulhiès Cofidis, Solutions Crédits s.t.
163 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Lampre - Merida s.t.
164 William Clarke Team Argos - Shimano s.t.
165 Luis Ángel Maté Cofidis, Solutions Crédits s.t.
166 Fabricio Ferrari Caja Rural s.t.
167 Jesse Sergent RadioShack - Leopard s.t.
168 Denis Menchov Katusha Team s.t.
169 Maxime Daniel Sojasun s.t.
170 Romain Hardy Cofidis, Solutions Crédits s.t.
171 Paul Poux Sojasun s.t.
172 Michael Rodriguez Colombia s.t.
173 Carlos Quintero Colombia s.t.
174 Federico Canuti Cannondale Pro Cycling s.t.
175 Mauro Da Dalto Cannondale Pro Cycling s.t.
176 Andrea Di Corrado Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox s.t.
177 Dennis Vanendert Lotto Belisol s.t.
178 Jetse Bol Blanco Pro Cycling Team s.t.
179 Omar Fraile Caja Rural s.t.
180 Tristan Valentin Cofidis, Solutions Crédits s.t.
181 Edwin Ávila Colombia s.t.
182 Yannick Talabardon Sojasun s.t.
183 Jeffry Romero Colombia s.t.
184 Dalivier Ospina Colombia s.t.
185 Jérémie Galland Sojasun s.t.
186 Carlos Verona Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
187 Frederique Robert Lotto Belisol + 17'06
188 Sébastien Rosseler Garmin - Sharp + 18'24
189 Marc Goos Blanco Pro Cycling Team + 19'38
190 Duber Quintero Colombia + 21'26
191 Cédric Pineau FDJ s.t.
192 Francesco Lasca Caja Rural + 23'06
