- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Who would have thought? After a totally abject early season, the Kazakh-funded team have flourished in this year’s Ardennes Classics.
With unexpected wins for Italian Enrico Gasparotto in Amstel Gold and Kazakhstan’s Maxim Iglinskiy in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Astana are the in-form team ahead of the Tour of Romandie and this year’s first major stage race, the Giro d’Italia.
Back during the Santos Tour Down Under, Astana were so out-of-sorts that even their mechanic was joking about their prospects. I was riding inside the team car for a day and Perry Moarman told me, candidly, that none of the riders had trained hard enough in the off-season.
“They’re useless and the management is not happy,” he said. Trying to do my bit to lift team morale, I told Perry that the sandwiches made by the Astana soigneur were the best I had experienced during the entire race.
“Good food but sh*t team,” came the reply.
Well, Perry will be eating his words now after what has been the one of the most successful weeks for Astana since its inception back in 2007.
Sponsored by a coalition of state-owned companied from Kazakhstan and named after its capital city, Astana, the team was built around the presence of Kazakh icon, Alexandre Vinokourov, the nation’s most famous sportsman.
Furthering the national line, the Astana jerseys bore the striking turquoise and gold colours of Kazakhstan.
Early campaigns to distance Kazakhstan from the cruel image portrayed by comedian Sasha Baron-Cohen with his infamous character Borat appeared a doddle when compared to the PR disaster that ensued following the positive doping controls of both Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin, another national hero.
The well-funded team survived this blip by going all-in for Alberto Contador (cycling’s hottest property) and his former Discovery manager Johan Bruyneel – although they suffered a major set-back when the team was barred from the Tour, meaning Contador could not defend his title.
A year later, Astana were back in the headlines with the signing of Lance Armstrong, who came out of retirement to take third in the Tour, behind team-mate Contador, who won.
With Vinokourov returning from his doping ban in 2010, Bruyneel and Armstrong left (along with the likes of Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden), but the team still pulled off a successful season, with Contador winning the Tour and Vino taking Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Things have looked pretty bleak since then. Contador not only left for Saxo Bank, but his 2010 victory was rubbed after his clenbuterol case; meanwhile, Vino crashed heavily in last year’s Tour, broke his leg and promptly retired.
Vinokourov may have gone back on his decision to retire, but no one realistically expects much from the veteran in his final season (there’s talk that he’s so far behind in his recuperation that the Tour may be asking too much for the 38 year old).
Shorn of any major faces and on the verge of losing its initial raison d’etre in Vinokourov, Astana have been struggling with finding a purpose and identity.
But winning a major classic followed by one of cycling’s monuments in the space of a week should give the team fresh hope and direction.
Both wins, although unexpected, were not entirely bolts out of the blue. Gasparotto finished third on the podium at Amstel Gold in 2010 and a major win for the Italian was long overdue. As for Iglinskiy, the Kazakh has been riding well this year and finished second behind Fabian Cancellara in the Strade Bianche race earlier in the season.
Iglinskiy’s win for Astana will certainly give the team sponsors the most amount of pleasure. While most of the team management and six of the squad are now Italian (the team’s common language on the road), the backers are still firmly behind Astana being a Kazakh project.
Watching Amstel Gold on a Russian Eurosport stream, I found it hard not to laugh when the commentators got carried away and thought the win had gone to Iglinskiy, from neighbouring Kazakhstan, and not Gasparotto.
One week later, Iglinskiy got his win – and what a win it was. (Sadly, I wasn’t watching the race on a Russian feed.) Failing to give in to Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas – who had broken clear on the penultimate climb of the day, the 31-year-old caught the Italian inside the final kilometre before easing to the biggest win of his career.
With two victories in the Ardennes, plus the prospect of new signing Janez Brajkovic of Slovenia and eternal Czech hope Roman Kreuziger leading in the Grand Tours, things are looking up for Astana.
Of course, the cynics will always talk about the team’s past, about Vinokourov’s ban, the Liberty-Seguros link, the Contador scandal, the association with Armstrong and Bruyneel.
But at least Astana appear to be doing their best to move on and enter a new chapter in their history. Time will tell how things pan out.
As for GreenEdge and the Australians, the Ardennes Classics weren’t so successful. Praise must go to Switzerland’s Michael Albasini, who couldn’t follow Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) up the Mur de Huy, but still held on for a solid second-place in the Fleche Wallonne.
With Cadel Evans pulling out of races because of a sinus infection, Simon Gerrans – once again – was the cream of the Australian crop during the week. But the Milan-San Remo winner could only muster 20th in the Amstel Gold and 19th in Liege-Bastogne-Liege – GreenEdge’s best finishes in both races.
Fancy a wager on your favourite sport? Head on over to PlayUp for great odds and friendly customer service and pick a winner. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.