The contenders – Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana)
The contenders – Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana)
Astana’s place on the WorldTour was not guaranteed after the Iglinskiy brothers’ doping offences last year, but the Kazakh-backed team will start the season with several new signings keen to make headlines for the right reasons.
Dario Cataldo, Lars Boom, Davide Malacarne, Laurens de Vreese and Luis Leon Sanchez will all make their Astana debuts Down Under, with the latter a former champion.
Sanchez, Cataldo and Lieuwe Westra all stand a chance of at least recording stage wins, depending on the team’s objectives, but Sanchez – the Vuelta a Espana King of the Mountains last year – could go even better.
The Spaniard showed strong form at the start of last season, finishing third overall at the Ruta del Sol and if he can kick off 2015 in a similar vein he certainly has the ability to win this race for a second time.