Pro Team Astana / 2008 season
This article lists the achievements and team of the Astana team in the 2008 season.
Season course
restructuring
For the 2008 season, the team was strengthened with new drivers due to the departure of some top drivers. Among other things, last year's tour winner Alberto Contador as well as the third tour operator Levi Leipheimer were signed for the new year . Together with the new manager of the team Johan Bruyneel , who replaced the previous manager Marc Biver , they moved from the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, which was dissolved at the end of the season . The team selected Trek as the official team bike manufacturer for the 2008 season and beyond.
New anti-doping program
The team's new philosophy was a strict and clear stance in the fight against doping. A budget of € 450,000 was available for an internal team control system and the renowned anti-doping expert Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard was hired as head of the program. He decided completely independently who was to be checked, when and how often. The German company PwC was then founded by Dr. Damsgaard was commissioned to carry out the controls. PwC specializes in this area and is also responsible for all NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) controls in Germany. PwC then took blood and / or urine from the drivers and then had the samples examined for any abnormalities in approved laboratories. The results then went back to Dr. Damsgaard and were evaluated by him. In the last step, the results were made available to the team, which could act immediately if there were any discrepancies. The world cycling association UCI always had access to all dates and dates. Although the team acted as the client, it was supposed to be excluded in this way so that it could influence the results. The same applied to team doctors and supervisors. These measures should help to support the credibility of the team and to enforce the zero tolerance policy in matters of doping - not least to protect the health of the drivers.
The big country tours in 2008
On February 13, 2008, the organizer of the Tour der France, ASO, announced that Team Astana had not been invited to the 2008 Tour because of its doping history.
The team was subsequently invited to the Giro d'Italia , where Alberto Contador and Klöden was the overall winner.
2008 season
Successes in the UCI ProTour
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| 7th of April |
 1st stage Vuelta al País Vasco
|
Alberto Contador
|
| 12. April |
6. Stage Vuelta al País Vasco
|
Alberto Contador
|
| 7-12 April |
Overall ranking Vuelta al País Vasco
|
Alberto Contador
|
| April, 30th |
 1st stage Tour de Romandie
|
 Maxim Iglinski
|
| 2.May |
3rd stage Tour de Romandie
|
 Andreas Klöden
|
| April 29th - May 4th |
Overall ranking Tour de Romandie
|
Andreas Klöden
|
| 8th June |
 Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
|
 Levi Leipheimer
|
Success in the UCI Continental Tour
| date | run | Cat. | driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21st of February |
 2nd stage Volta ao Algarve
|
2.1 |
 Tomas Vaitkus
|
| February 22 |
5th stage California Tour
|
2.HC |
Levi Leipheimer
|
| 17.-24. February |
Overall ranking California Tour
|
2.HC |
Levi Leipheimer
|
| 5. March |
2nd stage Vuelta a Murcia
|
2.1 |
José Luis Rubiera
|
| March 23 |
 Ronde van het Groene Hart
|
1.1 |
Tomas Vaitkus
|
| March 24th |
1st stage Vuelta a Castilla y León
|
2.1 |
Alberto Contador
|
| 27th of March |
4th stage Vuelta a Castilla y León
|
2.1 |
Alberto Contador
|
| 24.-28. March |
Overall ranking Vuelta a Castilla y León
|
2.1 |
Alberto Contador
|
| May 10th - June 1st |
 Overall ranking Giro d'Italia
|
Alberto Contador
|
|
| June 26th |
Kazakh Championship - Individual Time Trial |
NC |
Andrei Misurov
|
| June 27th |
 Russian Championship - Individual Time Trial |
NC |
Vladimir Gusev
|
| June 28th |
Kazakh championship - road racing |
NC |
Assan Basayev
|
| June 28th |
Lithuanian Championship - Road Race |
NC |
Tomas Vaitkus
|
| June 28th |
Portuguese Championship - Individual Time Trial |
NC |
Sérgio Paulinho
|
| June 29th |
Russian championship - road racing |
NC |
Sergei Ivanov
|
| July 11th |
 5th stage tour of Austria
|
2.HC |
René Haselbacher
|
| 26.-30. July |
 Overall ranking Tour de Wallonie
|
2.HC |
Sergei Ivanov
|
| August 24th |
Clásica a los Puertos
|
1.1 |
Levi Leipheimer
|
| September 3 |
5th stage Vuelta a España (EZF) |
Levi Leipheimer
|
|
| 13.september |
13th stage Vuelta a España
|
Alberto Contador
|
|
| September 14th |
14th stage Vuelta a España
|
Alberto Contador
|
|
| September 20th |
20th stage Vuelta a España (EZF) |
Levi Leipheimer
|
|
| August 30th - September 21st |
Overall ranking Vuelta a España
|
Alberto Contador
|
Additions Disposals
| Accesses | Team 2007 | Departures | Team 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Janez Brajkovič
|
Discovery Channel |
José Antonio Redondo
|
Andalucía-Cajasur |
|
Alberto Contador
|
Discovery Channel |
Paolo Savoldelli
|
LPR brakes |
|
Vladimir Gusev
|
Discovery Channel |
Igor Abakoumov
|
Mitsubishi Jartazi |
|
Levi Leipheimer
|
Discovery Channel |
Gennady Mikhailov
|
Mitsubishi Jartazi |
|
Benjamin Noval
|
Discovery Channel |
Maxim Gurow
|
A-style somn |
|
Sérgio Paulinho
|
Discovery Channel |
Yevgeny Sladkov
|
Centri della Calzatura-Partizan |
|
José Luis Rubiera
|
Discovery Channel |
Alexei Kolessow
|
Ulan |
|
Tomas Vaitkus
|
Discovery Channel |
Andrei Kashechkin
|
Doping ban |
|
Christopher Horner
|
Predictor Lotto |
Matthias Kessler
|
Doping ban |
|
Berik Kupeschow
|
Storez-Ledecq Matériaux |
Eddy Mazzoleni
|
End of career |
|
Roman Kireev
|
Neoprofi |
Alexander Vinokurov
|
End of career |
|
Andrei Seiz
|
Neoprofi |
Vladimir Gusev (until July 25th) |
Unknown |
team
shirt
2008
See also
- Astana / 2010 season
- Astana / 2009 season
- Astana / 2007 season
- Astana-Würth / 2006 season
- Liberty Seguros / 2005 season
Individual evidence
- ↑ Andreas Klöden: Contract extension ( memento of the original from September 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . On: Andreas Klöden Official Website , August 2, 2008
