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For the cycling team known as Astana in the latter part of 2006, see ONCE cycling team.
Astana
File:Astana-cycling-team-pro-logo1.jpg
Team information
UCI codeAST
Registered Switzerland 2007
 Luxembourg 2008
 Kazakhstan 2009–
Founded2007 (2007)
Discipline(s)Road
StatusUCI ProTeam
BicyclesSpecialized Bicycle Components
Key personnel
General managerGiuseppe Martinelli
Team name history
2007–
Astana
Astana Qazaqstan Team jersey
Astana Qazaqstan Team jersey
Jersey
Current season

Astana (UCI team code: AST) is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Astana group, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan and named after its capital city Astana. Astana attained UCI ProTeam status in its inaugural year, 2007. Following a major doping scandal involving Kazakhstani rider Alexander Vinokourov, team management was terminated and new management brought in for the 2008 season. The team was then managed by Johan Bruyneel, former team manager of U.S. Postal/Discovery Channel team. Although Astana under Bruyneel was very successful, with a lineup including Grand Tour winners Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, as well as runners-up Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Klöden, the team was on the verge of financial collapse in May 2009. A battle for control of the team related to the return of Vinokourov for the 2009 Vuelta a España caused Bruyneel and at least fourteen of its riders to leave at the end of the 2009 season, most for You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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History

Demise of Liberty Seguros-Würth

Astana first became involved in sponsoring cycling during the 2006 season. The Liberty Seguros-Würth team was heavily implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case and the sponsors Liberty Mutual, and later Würth, withdrew their sponsorship of the team. Astana stepped in to sponsor the team, and during the second half of the season, Vinokourov won the Vuelta a España while riding for the renamed Team Astana, and his Kazakh teammate Andrey Kashechkin finished third.

New team

The new Astana management initially tried to buy the ProTour licence of the former Liberty Seguros-Würth team, held by Manolo Saiz. However, Saiz was reluctant to sell, so Astana applied for a licence in their own right. Initially, the new team was based in Switzerland under the holding company of Zeus Sarl and managed by former Tour de Suisse organiser Marc Biver. Vinokourov was the team's debut leader.

The UCI ProTour license commission first informed Astana that they would not be granted a ProTour License for the 2007 season. Following UCI's decision not to grant a ProTour license, the organizers of the three Grand Tours informed Astana Team that they would be included, regardless of ProTour license status. On 20 December 2006 the UCI License Commission relented and awarded Astana Team a 4-year ProTour license.

Other prominent new riders for the 2007 season included stage race specialists Andreas Klöden, Paolo Savoldelli and Andrey Kashechkin, as well as Matthias Kessler, Grégory Rast, Thomas Frei and Spanish climber Antonio Colom.

2007

Doping Issues

In April, Matthias Kessler tested positive for testosterone following a surprise control in Charleroi. The former Team T-Mobile rider who had won a Tour de France stage in 2006, was fired in July, and would turn out to be the first of a number of Astana-riders to be tested positive. Later in July, yet another former T-Mobile cyclist, Italian Eddy Mazzoleni, left the team after allegations of doping usage. Mazzoleni, who had finished 3rd in the 2007 Giro d'Italia, was later suspended for two years for his alleged involvement in the Oil for Drugs doping case.

After a positive blood doping (transfusion) test following the winning time-trial by team-leader Alexander Vinokourov, organisers "invited" Team Astana's management to withdraw the entire team from the 2007 Tour de France; this invitation was immediately accepted.[1]

Following confirmation that Vinokourov's B-sample had also tested positive, the Astana Team announced that he had been sacked with immediate effect.[2] On 1 August, fellow Kazakh Andrey Kashechkin tested positive for homologous blood doping following an out-of-competition test in Belek, Turkey. He was suspended and subsequently fired as well.

Additionally, the troubled team decided to suspend its activities during the month of August to decide about its future with new regulations.[3]

This was followed by the termination of José Antonio Redondo's contract after "failing to abide by team rules", making him the fifth rider of the team to leave during the 2007 season.

2008

2008 team car

Following the doping problems of 2007, the sponsors of Astana decided to replace Biver with Johan Bruyneel, the former directeur sportif of the defunct Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. Bruyneel had the mandate to start afresh with the team, so he hired a number of former Discovery riders including 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (who had ridden with Vinokourov on the old Liberty Seguros team) and third-place finisher Levi Leipheimer. Additionally, Bruyneel introduced the anti-doping system developed by Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard, Head of Information for Anti Doping Danmark (ADD). The anti-doping system was initially used by Team CSC starting in 2007.[4] The link between the Discovery Channel team and Astana was strengthened when Bruyneel signed a contract with Trek Bicycle Corporation to supply the team with bicycles and components, as they had done with Discovery Channel. Bruyneel also affirmed sponsorship with SRAM, the component maker.

Riding under a Luxembourgian license, the team also included other ex-Discovery Channel riders such as Tomas Vaitkus, Sérgio Paulinho, Chechu Rubiera, Vladimir Gusev and Janez Brajkovic, as well as American Chris Horner. However, former Discovery Channel rider Savoldelli left the team.

On 13 February 2008, the organisers of the Tour de France announced that Astana would be barred from the 2008 Tour due to its links to Operación Puerto and involvement in the 2007 Tour doping scandals. This meant that Contador was unable to defend his Tour crown, because his contract does not have an "escape clause" that covered Astana's current situation.[5]

Results

The Astana team was also not invited to the 2008 Giro d'Italia. However, on 3 May, one week before the start of the race, Giro organizers chose to extend a last-minute invitation to Astana.[6] Astana was able to field a team despite the short notice, and on 1 June, Alberto Contador won the Giro, finishing 11th on the final stage time trial to keep his pink jersey and take the overall victory. Contador also won the 2008 Vuelta a España, with teammate Levi Leipheimer finishing a close second. Thus, despite not competing in the Tour de France, Astana still won two Grand Tours in 2008 and achieved three podiums. Leipheimer also won a bronze medal in the time trial in the 2008 Olympics, just edging Contador, who finished fourth.

Among the other results achieved by the team were victories in several stage races: by Contador in the Vuelta al País Vasco and the Vuelta a Castilla y León, by Leipheimer in the Tour of California, by Klöden in the Tour de Romandie and by Russian Sergei Ivanov in the Tour de Wallonie. Various team members also achieved several other top-tier results, and Ivanov, Paulinho, Vaikus and two of the Kazakhs won their national championships.

Astana's strict anti-doping policy came to the forefront later in the year. On 28 July Astana fired Vladimir Gusev for showing "abnormal values" in an internal doping check. In a release from team director Johan Bruyneel it was indicated that although the results "do not indicate the use of banned substances, the team has therefore applied the contractual terms based on these physiological and biological abnormalities", dismissing Gusev "with immediate effect." [7] On 17 June 2009, almost a year later, the Court of Arbitration in Sport ruled that Astana was wrong to fire Gusev based on Dr. Damsgaard's interpretation of blood values and ordered Astana to pay Gusev back wages, damages and legal costs.[8]

2009

Return of Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong during the first individual time trial of the Giro d'Italia

On 25 September 2008, it was confirmed that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong would leave retirement to ride for the team in the 2009 season. Along with Armstrong, Yaroslav Popovych, another former Discovery Channel rider, joined the ranks of Astana, which brought the number of former Discovery Channel riders on Astana to nine (Armstrong, Popovych, Contador, Leipheimer, Rubiera, Noval, Vaitkus, Paulinho and Brajkovič).

It was reported that Armstrong would share team leadership with current leader Contador, that he intended to participate in the Tour Down Under, the Tour of California, Paris–Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Critérium du Dauphiné Liberé and the Tour de France, and that he would receive no salary or bonuses, instead directing his attention to raising awareness for cancer research.[9][10]

Along with Armstrong and Popovych, Astana also signed Jesús Hernández, who had joined the former Liberty Seguros team in 2004 when Alberto Contador was one of the riders there, and Basque rider Haimar Zubeldia. Contador expressed his support for the return of Vinokourov from his two-year doping suspension but seemed less enthusiastic about Armstrong's return.[11]

Armstrong was part of the team that participated in the season's first ProTour race, the 2009 Tour Down Under. The team's first victory of the season was the 6th stage, followed by the general classification, of the Tour of California by Levi Leipheimer. In the same week, Alberto Contador won a stage and the classification of the Volta ao Algarve, and subsequently two stages in the Paris–Nice race.

Armstrong's participation in the Tour was cast into doubt in late March, after he suffered a broken collarbone in the Vuelta a Castilla y León that required surgical repair. However, Armstrong was able to recover in time to ride in the 2009 Giro d'Italia.

Financial crisis

Team time trial at the 2009 Tour de Romandie

On 6 May 2009 Astana admitted that it had failed to pay its riders amid the financial crisis in Kazakhstan, but a team spokesman said that this was only a delay, that the team was not in danger of folding, and that the team would compete in the 2009 Giro d'Italia as planned.[12] On 7 May Armstrong, riding for Astana on an unpaid basis, expressed his sympathy for employees waiting for their wages only days before the start of the Giro d'Italia.[13] He also said that if the financial crisis was not resolved, the team's license should be turned over to Bruyneel, which he said was the "most logical solution."[14]

Organizationally, Astana has an unusual structure. Although the Kazakh team holds the UCI license and pays the salaries, the individual rider contracts and equipment leases are held by Bruyneel's Luxembourg-based Olympus SARL, so the team could continue with merely a license transfer. UCI President Pat McQuaid is planning a visit to Astana during the Giro to discuss the team's future.[15] According to Armstrong: "I don't have any concrete answers but I suspect we can find some funding that would get us from June to the end of the year."[13] On 11 May, the UCI set a deadline for resolving Astana's financial situation of 31 May, the last day of the Giro. If the team has not met its financial obligations by that date, it will be suspended by the UCI. Bruyneel noted that at least the team would be able to finish the Giro under its current banner.[16]

During stage 7 of the Giro, eight of the nine Astana riders, including Armstrong, rode in jerseys with the non-paying sponsors' names nearly faded out in protest over the team's unpaid salaries and remained in such jerseys for the rest of the Giro. The only rider not to participate was Andrey Zeits from Kazakhstan.[17] According to Bruyneel, the names of paying sponsors, such as Trek and KazMunayGas, were not blanked out, and the team would continue to "race with these shirts until everything, emphasis on everything, is fixed", as "the riders have only received two months of salary in 2009."[18] On 19 May, Bruyneel announced that the sponsors have paid part of the past-due wages since the start of the protest "but the major part is still missing."[19] On 3 June the Astana team gave financial guarantees to cycling's governing body which will allow them to compete in the 2009 Tour de France in July,[20] and later that month declared their financial problems to be resolved and the funds secure at least to the end of the season.[21]

Vinokourov versus Bruyneel

During these financial problems, it was rumored that three of the former Discovery Channel riders on the team – team leader Contador and his domestiques Noval and Paulinho – would join Garmin-Slipstream for the Tour de France if Armstrong were to take over the Astana team.[22] These problems seemed to be resolved, at least for the remainder of 2009, when the team's funding was resolved. However, the funding battle may have been merely a skirmish related to the underlying issue: control of the Astana team after the expiration of the two-year doping suspension of Alexander Vinokourov on 24 July 2009.

On 2 July, Vinokourov stated that he would return to Astana, which he noted was "created for me and thanks to my efforts", when his suspension ended, and that he would ride for Astana in the 2009 Vuelta a España. He stated that he expected to reach agreement with Bruyneel about his return within the week, but that "if Bruyneel does not want me, it will be Bruyneel who is leaving the team."[23] The next day, the French newspaper L'Equipe reported that the Kazakh Cycling Federation planned to fire Bruyneel, Armstrong, Leipheimer and many of the other riders and rebuild the team in the model of the old Liberty Seguros team, which was predominantly Spanish. The paper quoted the vice-president of the Kazakh federation as saying, "[Contador] will be our sole leader for years to come [and] will be able to pick out the riders he wants to ride with him. In our mind, the team will be composed of Spanish and Kazakh riders, including Alexander Vinokourov."[24]

On 21 July, with Contador, Armstrong and Klöden holding three of the top four places in the Tour de France, Bruyneel told Belgian channel VRT that Astana as currently constituted was "finished" and that he would be leaving the team, as Vinokourov and the Kazakh federation had discussed, at the end of the season.[25] Despite the comments by Vinokourov and the Kazakhstan federation, Bruyneel and Vinokourov did not reach an agreement regarding Vinokourov's return to Astana for 2009, and the team submitted a preliminary roster to the 2009 Vuelta a España listing him only as a reserve.[26] Finally, on 24 August, Astana announced that an agreement had been reached between Vinokourov and Bruyneel and that Vinokourov would rejoin the team for the start of the Vuelta.[27] The next day, Armstrong announced that Bruyneel would take over Team RadioShack in 2010.[28]

2010

The immediate result of Vinokourov's return and Bruyneel's departure was a mass exodus from Astana. Although Bruyneel still had a year to run on his contract, Astana permitted his departure in return for him not blocking Vinokourov's return. Contador also has a year on his contract, and Astana refused to permit his departure. However, much of the rest of the team departed for RadioShack, including Armstrong, Klöden, Leipheimer, Zubeldia, Horner, Brajkovič, Popovych, Paulinho, Vaitkus, Rast, Rubiera and Muravyev (the only Kazakh to depart), which meant that eight of the nine members of the winning Astana team at the 2009 Tour de France moved to RadioShack. Additionally, Schär and Morabito joined You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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  • {{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.. All that remained of Astana was four Spanish riders (Contador, Noval, Navarro and Hernández) and the Kazakhs (except Muravyev). Since then, the team has signed three more Spanish riders, including 2006 Tour champion Óscar Pereiro,[29] to support Contador. Consistent with the July 2009 plan, the 2010 team includes 12 Kazakhstanis and 7 Spaniards among its 26 riders.

Major achievements

2007

1st Trofeo Soller, Antonio Colóm
1st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico, Andreas Klöden
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe, Andreas Klöden
1st Stage 3, Andreas Klöden
1st Prologue Tour de Romandie, Paolo Savoldelli
1st Stage 20 Giro d'Italia, Paolo Savoldelli
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg, Grégory Rast
1st Stage 4, Grégory Rast
1st Stage 3 & 7, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Alexandre Vinokourov
1st Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Antonio Colóm
1st Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Maxim Iglinsky
1st  Kazakhstan Road Race Championship, Maxim Iglinsky
1st  Luxembourg Road Race Championship, Benoît Joachim
1st Stage 3 & 7 Herald Sun Tour, Aaron Kemps
1st Stage 4 & 6 Herald Sun Tour, Steve Morabito
2nd Overall Tour de Romandie, Paolo Savoldelli
3rd Overall Tour de Romandie, Andrey Kashechkin
3rd Overall Giro d'Italia, Eddy Mazzoleni
3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Andrey Kashechkin
3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico, Alexandre Vinokourov

2008

1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve, Tomas Vaitkus
1st Overall Tour of California, Levi Leipheimer
1st Stage 5, Levi Leipheimer
1st Stage 2 Vuelta a Murcia, José Luis Rubiera
1st Ronde van het Groene Hart, Tomas Vaitkus
1st Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León, Alberto Contador
1st Stages 1 & 4, Alberto Contador
1st Overall Vuelta al País Vasco, Alberto Contador
1st Stages 1 & 6, Alberto Contador
1st Overall Tour de Romandie, Andreas Klöden
1st Stage 1, Maxim Iglinsky
1st Stage 3, Andreas Klöden
1st Overall Giro d'Italia, Alberto Contador
1st Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Levi Leipheimer
1st  Kazakhstan Road Race Championships, Assan Bazayev
1st  Kazakhstan Time Trial Championships, Andrey Mizourov
1st  Russia Road Race Championships, Serguei Ivanov
1st  Russia Time Trial Championships, Vladimir Gusev
1st  Lithuania Road Race Championships, Tomas Vaitkus
1st  Portugal Time Trial Championships, Sérgio Paulinho
1st Stage 5 Österreich-Rundfahrt, René Haselbacher
1st Overall Tour de Wallonie, Serguei Ivanov
1st Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama, Levi Leipheimer
1st Overall Vuelta a España, Alberto Contador
1st Stages 5 & 20, Levi Leipheimer
1st Stages 13 & 14, Alberto Contador
2nd Overall Tour de Suisse, Andreas Klöden
2nd Overall Vuelta a España, Levi Leipheimer
2nd Giro di Lombardia, Janez Brajkovic
3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Levi Leipheimer
3rd Olympic Games, Time Trial, Levi Leipheimer
3rd Overall Deutschland Tour, Janez Brajkovic

2009

1st Overall Tour of California, Levi Leipheimer
1st Stage 6, Levi Leipheimer
1st Overall Volta ao Algarve, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 4, Alberto Contador
1st Stages 1 & 6 Paris–Nice, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 5 Tirreno–Adriatico, Andreas Klöden
1st Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León, Levi Leipheimer
1st Stage 2, Levi Leipheimer
1st Overall Vuelta al País Vasco, Alberto Contador
1st Stages 3 & 6, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 1 Giro del Trentino, Andreas Klöden
1st Prologue Tour du Luxembourg, Grégory Rast
1st  Slovenia Time Trial Championships, Janez Brajkovič
1st  Spain Time Trial Championships, Alberto Contador
1st Overall Tour de France, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 4, Team Time Trial
1st Stages 15 & 18, Alberto Contador
1st Chrono des Nations, Alexandre Vinokourov
1st Team Classification, Tour de France
1st Team classification, Giro D'Italia
3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico, Andreas Klöden
3rd Overall Tour de France, Lance Armstrong
3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Alberto Contador

2010

1st Overall Volta ao Algarve, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 3, Alberto Contador
1st Montepaschi Strade Bianche, Maxim Iglinsky
1st Overall Paris–Nice, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 4, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 5 Tirreno-Adriatico, Enrico Gasparotto
1st Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 4, Alberto Contador
1st Overall Giro del Trentino, Alexandre Vinokourov
1st Stage 1, Alexandre Vinokourov
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Alexandre Vinokourov
1st Prologue & Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné, Alberto Contador
1st Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné, Daniel Navarro
1st  Slovenia Road Race Championships, Gorazd Stangelj
1st  Kazakhstan Road Race Championships, Maxim Gourov
Tour de France
1st Stage 13, Alexandre Vinokourov
Alberto Contador originally finished 1st overall, but was later disqualified[30]
1st Overall Tour of Hainan, Valentin Iglinsky
1st Stage 2, Valentin Iglinsky
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné, Alberto Contador
2nd Clasica San Sebastian, Alexandre Vinokourov
3rd Amstel Gold Race, Enrico Gasparotto
3rd Flèche Wallonne, Alberto Contador
3rd 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) UCI Road Race World Championships, Allan Davis

2011

1st Stage 7 Paris-Nice, Remy Di Gregorio
1st Stage 3 Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Alexandre Vinokourov
1st Stage 4 Giro del Trentino, Roman Kreuziger
1st Stage 2 Presidential Tour of Turkey, Valentin Iglinsky
1st Stage 3 Tour de Romandie, Alexandre Vinokourov
1st Stage 19 Giro d'Italia, Paolo Tiralongo
1st Young rider classification in the Giro d'Italia, Roman Kreuziger
1st  Kazakhstan Road Race Championships, Andrey Mizourov
1st Overall Österreich-Rundfahrt, Fredrik Kessiakoff
1st Stage 2, Fredrik Kessiakoff
1st Overall Tour of Hainan, Valentin Iglinsky
1st Stage 8, Valentin Iglinsky
3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné, Alexandre Vinokourov
3rd Overall Tour de Romandie, Alexandre Vinokourov

2012

1st Stage 3 Volta a Catalunya, Janez Brajkovič
1st Amstel Gold Race, Enrico Gasparotto
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Maxim Iglinsky
1st Stage 7 Giro d'Italia, Paolo Tiralongo
1st Stage 19 2012 Giro d'Italia, Roman Kreuziger

2012 team roster

As of 1 January 2012.[31]

Rider Date of birth
 Assan Bazayev (KAZ) (1981-02-22) 22 February 1981 (age 43)
 Borut Božič (SLO) (1980-08-08) 8 August 1980 (age 44)
 Janez Brajkovič (SLO) (1983-12-18) 18 December 1983 (age 40)
 Alexsandr Dyachenko (KAZ) (1983-10-17) 17 October 1983 (age 40)
 Dmitry Fofonov (KAZ) (1976-08-15) 15 August 1976 (age 48)
 Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) (1982-03-22) 22 March 1982 (age 42)
 Francesco Gavazzi (ITA) (1984-08-01) 1 August 1984 (age 40)
 Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ) (1986-03-13) 13 March 1986 (age 38)
 Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA) (1987-08-14) 14 August 1987 (age 37)
 Andriy Hryvko (UKR) (1983-08-07) 7 August 1983 (age 41)
 Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ) (1981-04-18) 18 April 1981 (age 43)
 Valentin Iglinskiy (KAZ) (1984-05-12) 12 May 1984 (age 40)
 Tanel Kangert (EST) (1987-03-11) 11 March 1987 (age 37)
 Andrey Kashechkin (KAZ) (1980-03-21) 21 March 1980 (age 44)
Rider Date of birth
 Fredrik Kessiakoff (SWE) (1980-05-17) 17 May 1980 (age 44)
 Robert Kišerlovski (CRO) (1986-08-09) 9 August 1986 (age 38)
 Roman Kreuziger (CZE) (1986-05-06) 6 May 1986 (age 38)
 Francesco Masciarelli (ITA) (1986-05-05) 5 May 1986 (age 38)
 Dimitry Muravyev (KAZ) (1979-11-02) 2 November 1979 (age 44)
 Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy (KAZ) (1987-03-12) 12 March 1987 (age 37)
 Evgeni Petrov (RUS) (1978-05-25) 25 May 1978 (age 46)
 Simone Ponzi (ITA) (1987-01-17) 17 January 1987 (age 37)
 Sergey Renev (KAZ) (1985-01-03) 3 January 1985 (age 39)
 Kevin Seeldraeyers (BEL) (1986-09-12) 12 September 1986 (age 37)
 Egor Silin (RUS) (1988-06-25) 25 June 1988 (age 36)
 Paolo Tiralongo (ITA) (1977-07-08) 8 July 1977 (age 47)
 Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) (1973-09-16) 16 September 1973 (age 50)
 Andrey Zeits (KAZ) (1986-12-14) 14 December 1986 (age 37)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Cycling News". BBC News. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  2. ^ "Vinokourov fired by Astana team". BBC News. 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
  3. ^ "Astana Cycling Team suspends its activities for one month". team-astana.eu. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  4. ^ Bruyneel to head new-look Astana team in 2008 – Cycling – Yahoo! Sports
  5. ^ Associated Press (2008-02-13). "Tour de France organizers exclude Astana team; Alberto Contador may not defend title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  6. ^ AFP (2008-05-04). "Astana Will Race The Giro". Bicycling. Retrieved 2009-05-11. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) [dead link]
  7. ^ VeloNews | Astana sacks Gusev over 'abnormal values' found during internal checks | The Journal of Competitive Cycling
  8. ^ Jean-François Quénet (2009-06-17). "Gusev back in action after CAS decision". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  9. ^ "Route Summary Stage 11". La Vuelta '08. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2008-09-12. Astana team-manager Johan Bruyneel has admitted that he has spoken with Lance Armstrong and has stated that he can't see the North American riding for any team other than Astana.
  10. ^ Armstrong joins Kazakhstan's team – RTHK
  11. ^ Associated Press (2008-10-17). "Astana's Contador cautious in welcoming Armstrong back from retirement". ESPN. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  12. ^ "Lance Armstrong's Astana team fails to pay riders amid financial crisis". The Guardian. 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  13. ^ a b "Armstrong ponders Astana takeover". BBC Sport. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  14. ^ "Armstrong: Bruyneel could buy Astana". Eurosport. 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2009-05-10. [dead link]
  15. ^ "UCI monitoring Astana's financial situation". CNN. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  16. ^ Associated Press (2009-05-11). "UCI gives Armstrong's Astana team May 31 deadline". Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  17. ^ Reuters (2009-05-15). "Astana riders blank out sponsors' names in protest". Universal Sports. Retrieved 2009-05-15. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help) [dead link]
  18. ^ "Team Astana makes a statement". Astana Cycling Team. 2009-05-15.
  19. ^ Reuters (2009-05-20). "Astana owners cough up part of riders' owed wages". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-05-20. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ "Armstrong team to continue racing". BBC Sport. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ Shane Stokes (2009-06-24). "Vaughters downplays Contador rumors". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  23. ^ "'Vino' says he will be on Astana ... or heads will roll". VeloNews.com. 2009-07-02.
  24. ^ Susan Westemeyer (2009-07-03). "Kazakh coup to oust Armstrong and Bruyneel from Team Astana?". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  25. ^ "Bruyneel says it's time to quit Astana". Special Broadcasting Service. 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  26. ^ Richard Tyler (2009-08-14). "Preliminary Vuelta a España startlist announced". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  27. ^ cyclingnews.com (2009-08-24). "Vinokourov to head to the Tour of Spain with Astana".
  28. ^ Fergal O'Brien (2009-08-25). "Armstrong Says Bruyneel to Join New Team, Landis a Possibility". Bloomberg.com.
  29. ^ Associated Press, "Oscar Pereiro agrees deal to join Astana team for one year", The Guardian, Dec. 9, 2009. Retrieved 12-24-2009.
  30. ^ Although following Alberto Contador's backdated two-year ban in February 2012, he was disqualified from the 2010 Tour de France and his other victories from July 2010 onwards.
  31. ^ "Astana Pro Team (AST) – KAZ". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
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