At the Grand Départ of the 2019 Tour de France next week, Astana Pro Team will start with Jakob Fuglsang as its leader. He will be supported by Alexey Lutsenko, Gorka Izagirre, Pello Bilbao, Magnus Cort, Luis Leon Sanchez, Omar Fraile, and Hugo Houle. “With this strong and experienced team, we are ready to fight for the best possible result”, says sports director Dmitriy Fofonov, who will be accompanied by sports directors Bruno Cenghialta and Lars Michaelsen.
With a combined 13 Grand Tour stage wins and Jakob Fuglsang winning this year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Critérium du Dauphiné, this team knows how to perform says Dmitriy Fofonov: “It’s a strong and experienced team. Only Hugo Houle and Pello Bilbao will ride their first Tour de France. With Hugo Houle, we have someone who knows how to work for the team and he works well together with Jakob Fuglsang. Pello Bilbao is a very strong climber, as we could see in the Giro d’Italia where he won two stages, we definitely need him in this Tour de France as there will be a lot of climbing.”
Combined, the riders of this team have 22 Tour de France starts, of which Jakob Fuglsang (8) and Luis Leon Sanchez (8) are the most experienced riders of the team in ‘La Grande Boucle’. “In the end, only one can win the Tour de France, we will see where this team will be capable of. We are ready to fight for the best possible result, that’s for sure”, said sports director Dmitriy Fofonov.
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