Team Astana is currently meeting in Montecatini in Italy to plan the early part of the 2011 season and have decided on the team to send to next month’s Santos Tour Down Under. The team will be led by Australian sprinter, and 2009 race winner, Allan Davis, who recently took the bronze medal in Melbourne, in his native Australian, quickly followed by the Commonwealth Championship in Delhi, India.
Davis, whjo took three stage wins on the way to his 2009 victory, aims to “win a stage, and on the general, we’ll see, maybe I can count on the bonuses.”
The 2010 season, Davis’ first for Astana, was less successful for the 30-year-old Australian; his outstanding result of the year, besides his World and Commonwealth medals, was taking the points jersey in the Tour de Pologne.
Davis will be supported by his 24-year-old compatriot Simon Clarke, who steps up to ProTeam level this year after two years at ISD-Neri. The other Astana newcomer in the race will be 23-year-old Estonian Tanel Kangert, who makes his return to the top level, having taken a year away after three seasons with AG2R-La Mondiale.
The rest of the team consists of Kazakhs Valentin Iglinskiy, Maxim Gourov, and Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy, along with Ukrainian Andriy Grivko.
Team Astana for the Santos Tour Down Under:
Allan Davis, Simon Clarke, Maxim Gourov, Andriy Grivko, Valentin Iglinskiy, Tanel Kangert and Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy.