Astana Ranked First in UCI Standings

The Astana Cycling Team is placed as leader of the UCI world ranking team, with 624 points ahead of training Katusha, 575 points.

The Kazakh team counts two of its riders in the top 10 individual rankings: Spanish Alberto Contador in 4th position followed by Alexandre Vinokourov in 10th position. Then there are Maxim Iglinskiy (winner of Strade Bianche) in 20th position and the Italian Enrico Gasparotto (3rd, Amstel Gold Race) ranked 55th.

Since the start of the 2010 season, Astana has been on 30 podiums and 14 victories now, including three recently at the Criterium du Dauphine (two stages won by Contador and the first victory of Daniel Navarro). Also there are noteworthy victories of the Volta ao Algarve, Paris-Nice and the Vuelta Castilla y Leon by the Spanish leader, as well as the Tour of Trentino and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, for the Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov who also wore during five days the leader's jersey in the Giro d'Italia 2010.

Here is the statement of general manager Yvon Sanquer "It's a great reward for the team and the people who worked on it. It is an entirely satisfactory outcome at this time of year, almost midseason. This shows that the team has a major sport potential, with in the same time leaders who have distinguished themselves individually, and also riders who have succeeded them in this success. Approaching the Tour, we must keep our feet on the ground and stay focused but it is very encouraging."