2015 Astana season

Astana
2015 season
UCI code	AST
Status	UCI ProTeam
Chairman	Alexander Vinokourov
Main sponsor(s)	Samruk-Kazyna
Based	Kazakhstan
Bicycles	Specialized
Groupset	Campagnolo
Season victories
One-day races	6
Stage race overall	3
Stage race stages	22
Grand Tours	1
National Championships	2

The 2015 season for the Astana cycling team began in January with the Tour Down Under. As a UCI WorldTeam, they are automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.

Team roster

As of 1 January 2015.^[1]

Rider Date of birth  Valerio Agnoli (ITA) 6 January 1985 (aged 30)  Fabio Aru (ITA) 3 July 1990 (aged 24)  Maxat Ayazbayev (KAZ) 27 January 1992 (aged 22)  Lars Boom (NED) 30 December 1985 (aged 29)  Borut Božič (SLO) 8 August 1980 (aged 34)  Dario Cataldo (ITA) 17 March 1985 (aged 29)  Laurens de Vreese (BEL) 29 September 1988 (aged 26)  Alexsandr Dyachenko (KAZ) 17 October 1983 (aged 31)  Daniil Fominykh (KAZ) 28 August 1991 (aged 23)  Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) 22 March 1985 (aged 29)  Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ) 13 March 1986 (aged 29)  Andrea Guardini (ITA) 12 June 1989 (aged 25)  Andriy Hryvko (UKR) 7 August 1983 (aged 31)  Arman Kamyshev (KAZ) 14 March 1991 (aged 24)  Tanel Kangert (EST) 11 March 1987 (aged 27)

Rider Date of birth  Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (KAZ) 28 March 1992 (aged 22)  Mikel Landa (ESP) 13 December 1989 (aged 25)  Miguel Ángel López (COL) 4 February 1994 (aged 20)  Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) 7 September 1992 (aged 22)  Davide Malacarne (ITA) 11 June 1987 (aged 27)  Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) 14 November 1984 (aged 30)  Diego Rosa (ITA) 27 March 1989 (aged 25)  Luis León Sánchez (ESP) 24 November 1983 (aged 31)  Michele Scarponi (ITA) 25 September 1979 (aged 35)  Rein Taaramäe (EST) 24 April 1987 (aged 27)  Paolo Tiralongo (ITA) 8 July 1977 (aged 37)  Ruslan Tleubayev (KAZ) 7 March 1987 (aged 27)  Alessandro Vanotti (ITA) 16 September 1980 (aged 34)  Lieuwe Westra (NED) 11 September 1982 (aged 32)  Andrey Zeits (KAZ) 14 December 1986 (aged 28)

Riders who joined the team for the 2015 season Rider 2014 team Maxat Ayazbayev Astana continental team Lars Boom[2] Belkin Pro Cycling Dario Cataldo[3] Team Sky Laurens De Vreese[4] Wanty–Groupe Gobert Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev Astana continental team Miguel Ángel López neo (Loteria Boyaca Indeportes) Davide Malacarne[5] Team Europcar Diego Rosa[5] Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela Luis León Sánchez[5] Caja Rural–Seguros RGA Rein Taaramäe[6] Cofidis

Riders who left the team during or after the 2014 season Rider 2015 team Janez Brajkovič[7] UnitedHealthcare Enrico Gasparotto[8] Wanty–Groupe Gobert Francesco Gavazzi[9] Southeast Pro Cycling Jacopo Guarnieri[10] Team Katusha Evan Huffman Team SmartStop Maxim Iglinsky[11] Fired (doping) Valentin Iglinsky[12] Fired (doping) Fredrik Kessiakoff[13] Retired Dimitry Muravyev Retired

Season victories

Date	Race	Competition	Rider	Country	Location
14 February	Vuelta a Murcia	UCI Europe Tour	Taaramäe, ReinRein Taaramäe (EST)	Spain	Alto Fortaleze del Sol
17 February	Tour of Oman, Stage 1	UCI Asia Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Oman	Al Wutayyah
22 February	Tour of Oman, Points classification	UCI Asia Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Oman
8 March	Tour de Langkawi, Stage 1	UCI Asia Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Malaysia	Langkawi
9 March	Tour de Langkawi, Stage 2	UCI Asia Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Malaysia	Sungai Petani
11 March	Tour de Langkawi, Stage 4	UCI Asia Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Malaysia	Kuala Berang
14 March	Tour de Langkawi, Stage 8	UCI Asia Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur
10 April	Tour of the Basque Country, Stage 5	UCI World Tour	Landa, MikelMikel Landa (ESP)	Spain	Aia
24 April	Giro del Trentino, Stage 4	UCI Europe Tour	Tiralongo, PaoloPaolo Tiralongo (ITA)	Italy	Cles
24 April	Giro del Trentino, Teams classification	UCI Europe Tour	[N 1]	Italy
16 May	Tour de Picardie, Stage 2	UCI Europe Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Italy	Fleurines
17 May	Giro d'Italia, Stage 9	UCI World Tour	Tiralongo, PaoloPaolo Tiralongo (ITA)	Italy	San Giorgio del Sannio
17 May	Tour de Picardie, Teams classification	UCI Europe Tour	[N 2]	France
23 May	World Ports Classic, Stage 1	UCI Europe Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	Belgium	Antwerpen
24 May	Giro d'Italia, Stage 15	UCI World Tour	Landa, MikelMikel Landa (ESP)	Italy	Madonna di Campiglio
26 May	Giro d'Italia, Stage 16	UCI World Tour	Landa, MikelMikel Landa (ESP)	Italy	Aprica
29 May	Giro d'Italia, Stage 19	UCI World Tour	Aru, FabioFabio Aru (ITA)	Italy	Cervinia
30 May	Giro d'Italia, Stage 20	UCI World Tour	Aru, FabioFabio Aru (ITA)	Italy	Sestriere
31 May	Giro d'Italia, Young rider classification	UCI World Tour	Aru, FabioFabio Aru (ITA)	Italy
31 May	Giro d'Italia, Teams classification	UCI World Tour	[N 3]	Italy
20 June	Tour de Suisse, Stage 8	UCI World Tour	Lutsenko, AlexeyAlexey Lutsenko (KAZ)	Switzerland	Bern
24 July	Tour de France, Stage 19	UCI World Tour	Nibali, VincenzoVincenzo Nibali (ITA)	France	La Toussuire – Les Sybelles
4 August	Danmark Rundt, Stage 1	UCI Europe Tour	Boom, LarsLars Boom (NED)	Denmark	Holstebro
5 August	Vuelta a Burgos, Stage 2	UCI Europe Tour	Team time trial[N 4]	Spain	Burgos
7 August	Vuelta a Burgos, Stage 4	UCI Europe Tour	Ángel López, MiguelMiguel Ángel López (COL)	Spain	Pineda de la Sierra
8 August	Vuelta a Burgos, Overall	UCI Europe Tour	Taaramäe, ReinRein Taaramäe (EST)	Spain
8 August	Vuelta a Burgos, Young rider classification	UCI Europe Tour	Ángel López, MiguelMiguel Ángel López (COL)	Spain
8 August	Vuelta a Burgos, Teams classification	UCI Europe Tour	[N 5]	Spain
16 August	Arctic Race of Norway, Overall	UCI Europe Tour	Taaramäe, ReinRein Taaramäe (EST)	Norway
2 September	Vuelta a España, Stage 11	UCI World Tour	Landa, MikelMikel Landa (ESP)	Spain	Cortals d'Encamp
13 September	Vuelta a España, Overall	UCI World Tour	Aru, FabioFabio Aru (ITA)	Spain
17 September	Coppa Bernocchi	UCI Europe Tour	Nibali, VincenzoVincenzo Nibali (ITA)	Italy	Legnano
30 September	Tre Valli Varesine	UCI Europe Tour	Nibali, VincenzoVincenzo Nibali (ITA)	Italy	Varese
1 October	Milano–Torino	UCI Europe Tour	Rosa, DiegoDiego Rosa (ITA)	Italy	Torino
4 October	Tour of Almaty	UCI Asia Tour	Lutsenko, AlexeyAlexey Lutsenko (KAZ)	Kazakhstan	Almaty
4 October	Il Lombardia	UCI World Tour	Nibali, VincenzoVincenzo Nibali (ITA)	Italy	Como
8 October	Abu Dhabi Tour, Stage 1	UCI Asia Tour	Guardini, AndreaAndrea Guardini (ITA)	United Arab Emirates	Madinat Zayed
27 October	Tour of Hainan, Stage 8	UCI Asia Tour	Zeits, AndreyAndrey Zeits (KAZ)	China	Wuzhishan
28 October	Tour of Hainan, Teams classification	UCI Asia Tour	[N 6]	China

National, Continental and World champions 2015

Date	Discipline	Jersey	Rider	Country	Location
21 June	European Games Road Race Champion		Sánchez, Luis LeónLuis León Sánchez (ESP)	Azerbaijan	Baku
25 June	Kazakhstan National Time Trial Champion		Lutsenko, AlexeyAlexey Lutsenko (KAZ)	Kazakhstan	Petropavl
27 June	Italian National Road Race Champion		Nibali, VincenzoVincenzo Nibali (ITA)	Italy	Superga

Footnotes

1. The riders on the squad were Dario Cataldo, Tanel Kangert, Mikel Landa, Davide Malacarne, Diego Rosa, Paolo Tiralongo and Andrey Zeits
2. The riders on the squad were Andrea Guardini, Borut Božič, Maxat Ayazbayev, Laurens de Vreese, Arman Kamyshev, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev and Ruslan Tleubayev
3. The riders on the squad were Fabio Aru, Dario Cataldo, Tanel Kangert, Mikel Landa, Davide Malacarne, Diego Rosa, Luis León Sánchez, Paolo Tiralongo and Andrey Zeits
4. The riders on the squad were Mikel Landa, Luis León Sánchez, Miguel Ángel López, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev, Davide Malacarne, Michele Scarponi, Rein Taaramäe and Alessandro Vanotti
5. The riders on the squad were Mikel Landa, Luis León Sánchez, Miguel Ángel López, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev, Davide Malacarne, Michele Scarponi, Rein Taaramäe and Alessandro Vanotti
6. The riders on the squad were Valerio Agnoli, Daniil Fominykh, Dmitriy Gruzdev, Arman Kamyshev, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev, Ruslan Tleubayev and Andrey Zeits

References

1. "Astana Pro Team (AST) – KAZ". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
2. Hood, Andrew (1 August 2014). "Giro points champ Bouhanni to Cofidis; Boom to Astana". VeloNews. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
3. "Dario Cataldo signs for Astana to be climbing domestique for Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru". skysports.com. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
4. "2015 Contract - Laurens De Vreese". Astana Pro Team. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
5. Farrand, Stephen (1 August 2014). "Transfers: Astana signs Boom, Sanchez, Rosa and Malacarne". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
6. "Taaramae signs one-year deal with Astana". cyclingnews.com. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
7. "Brajkovic signs for UnitedHealthcare". cyclingnews.com. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
8. "Enrico Gasparotto rejoint Wanty-Groupe Gobert" [Enrico Gasparotto joins Wanty-Groupe Gobert]. RTBF.be (in French). Radio Télévision Belge Francophone. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
9. "News shorts: Gavazzi to Neri Sottoli". cyclingnews.com. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
10. "Transfers: Guarnieri signs with Katusha". cyclingnews.com. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
11. "Maxim Iglinskiy provisionally suspended for EPO". Cycling News. cyclingnews.com. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
12. "Valentin Iglinskiy sacked by Astana after positive test". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
13. "Kessiakoff announces retirement from cycling". Cyclingnews.com. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.