The re-founding of Astana-Qazaqstan continues. The general manager of the Kazakhstani formation Alexandre Vinokourov announced that he is very close to an agreement with a second title sponsor for his team, with the goal of keeping up with the other WorldTour formations. At the moment, however, the main objective is to remain in the most prestigious division of the UCI rankings, as right now the standings see the Asian team in 22nd position, in the midst of a fight not to be relegated and therefore at risk of losing its license at the end of the 2022-2025 triennium.

“We have found someone for a new sponsor and hope to announce it at the Tour de France. – explains the London 2012 Olympic champion to GCN – Team budgets go up every year and we need to survive with a second sponsor. We need to be competitive. We are working with the second sponsor, we are close to an agreement.”

A new sponsorship and consequently new funds to spend will also allow the Kazakhs to reinforce themselves with a view to CycleMarket 2025, and this is also what his country’s iconic man was talking about: “We are looking for a classification rider and a new sprinter, because Mark Cavendish will stop.” As for some papable names, the team manager did not want to get more out of line, but he did mention two riders who could be interesting for his team-Simon Yates and Joao Almeida.

If the former is expiring his contract, the latter turns out to have a long-term deal with UAE Team Emirates, “but there could be a solution, we’ll see,” the experienced Vinokourov deliberately let slip. However, the Portuguese specialist portal TopCycling reports that he is comfortable in his current team and has no plans to change.

As for the immediate future, however, the team’s focus is on finishing the Giro d’Italia in the top 10 with Lorenzo Fortunato, before concentrating on the Tour de France in which Cannonball will try to break the record of 34 victories he holds in a tie with Eddy Merckx: “Mark did the Tour of Turkey and the Tour of Hungary where he won, and he is in good shape. […] The form is improving and right now he is in the Sierra Nevada to train, he is working very well […] At the Tour we will not have a classification rider. We will look for stage wins with Mark and we will see with Lutsenko, maybe he will try to go in a breakaway to win more stages.”