The Astana Pro Team was set up in 2006, after it took over the helm of the Liberty Saguaros team, in that first year it had Alexandre Vinokourov as the main leader, with now famous riders such as a young Alberto Contador and the Aussie Sprinter Allan Davis to back him up. In this first year it had a strong Spanish feel with 16 riders from Spain, although after a year there was a change and Khazak riders took over.
The team was set up to set Vinokourov up for a Tour de France win, but from the start in was surrounded by controversy. In that first year of 2006 the team won the Vuelta with a dominant display, taking 5 stage wins along with the GC win for Vino. The young Contador also showed his talent winning a stage of the Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie, before leaving the team for Discovery.
The 2007 Tour de France was where the controversy all began, Vino was busted for doping after his time trial win, which came around after he crashed and had stitches everywhere, yet he was still apparently able to ride close to the front in the Mountains. the team left the Tour and were banned from competing in 2008.
In 2008 the team merged with Discovery after the infamous Bruyneel took over the team after the disbandment of Discovery, he brought in Contador again and a group of strong GC riders. That year saw them win the Giro, Vuelta and Tour of the Basque for Contador, the tour of California for Leipheimer and Romandie for Kloden. In the Vuelta they had a 1-2 on the podium for Contador and Leipheimer, but of course with Bruyneel at the helm we can always wonder what the team was doing to improve, and with Vino hanging round the team, they could never quite shake of the beliefs of doping. The Giro that Contador won was taken ahead of Ricco (2nd) and Pellizotti (4th) who have both served doping suspensions or been under suspicions since then.
2209 saw the return of Lance armstrong, who we now know was doped to the gills for almost his whole cycling career, so it's no wonder that the team was so strong and had so many wins. Vinokourov's return at the end of the year just showed that this team was never going to be "clean" as they had a doping culture engrained in their history, which they would never get out of.
A Tour de France win for Contador and a 3rd place for Armstrong (which was later taken off him for doping) , was backed up by another win for Contador in 2010, but this was followed by yet more controversy as he was disqualified and banned for two years for taking clenbuterol, which he claimed was from tainted beef.
2011 saw the departure of the banned Contador and an influx of Italian riders. This year saw a serious drop in results as Vinokourov was getting old and with all of Bruyneel's riders having left for Radioshack, and Contador's helpers moving to Saxo Bank.
2012 was another year of controversy with an Amstel Gold win for Gasparotto, and a surprise Liege win for Iglinskiy, which would be dropped into yet more controversy as Iglinskiy was banned for doping at the end of 2013. So how does Astana still have any credibility?
Well that's where I come in! I'm here to get rid of all this controversy, and to clean up Team Astana, but I can't do it alone so I plan to bring in staff that I believe will help me to do this. But more to come later.
Edited by Eddy The Boss on 25-06-2015 16:07
Gabon Down Under Marseillaise Oman Algarve Langkawi Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Paris-Nice Tirreno San Remo Catalunya E3 Harelbeke Criterium International Gent-Wevelgem Ronde van Vlaanderen Pais Vasco Paris-Roubaix Amstel Gold Race La Fleche Wallone Liege-Bastogne-Liege Tour de Romandie Giro d'Italia Criterium du Dauphine Tour de Suisse
Just a quick announcement that Borut Boric did a superb ride for the team, and managed to take 2nd place in the Tour of Flanders, this was a shock for rider and team, but it shows our strength in this area.
uses the same format as Joe and *ahem* DFG, just saying.
Nah kidding I believe ya Eddy, best of luck!
EDIT: Oops that's because he copied it, nvm
Edited by jandal7 on 25-06-2015 22:21
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Vincenzo Nibali
John Degenkolb
Sebastien Turgot
Nicolas Roche
Borut Bozic
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Alexey Lutsenko
Dylan Groenewegen
Dylan Teuns
Mamyr Stash
Andriy Grivko
Gabon 
Down Under
Oman 
Algarve 
Langkawi 
Catalunya 
Amstel Gold Race
Tour de Romandie
