Astana

With the departure of Alberto Contador and friends, the Spanish influences at Astana are reduced to almost zero. The team from Kazachstan now only has one leader: Alexandre Vinokourov.

‘Vino' has always been the main man in the team that was once built around him, but he stood aside for two seasons because of his doping suspension. However, he retook his position at Astana like he had never been away and collected impressive results in 2010, like victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a stage win in the Tour de France and sixth place in the general classification of the Giro.

Vinokourov, already 37 years old, will be the face of Astana again in 2011. In the stage races he will be assisted by two interesting newcomers from Liquigas: Roman Kreuziger and Robert Kiserlovski.