Astana Qazaqstan have announced that Fabio Felline, Davide Martinelli, Manuele Boaro and Harold Tejada will all remain with the team in 2022 after they each signed two-year contract extensions.
The confirmation of Felline, Martinelli, and Boaro means that Astana’s 2022 roster will feature a total of 11 Italian riders, including new arrivals Vincenzo Nibali, Gianni Moscon and Valerio Conti, as well as Veneto Classic winner Samuele Battistella.
Felline won the Memorial Marco Pantani in his first season with the team in 2020 and rode in support of the Bora-Hansgrohe-bound Aleksandr Vlasov at this year’s Giro d’Italia.
"The new contract and the good changes in the team motivate me to work more and to push harder in the races in the new season," Felline said in a statement released by Astana on Friday.
Boaro has been a mainstay of the squad since his arrival in 2019. A strong rouleur and a natural attacker, he will also play a supporting role on behalf of Alexey Lutsenko and the new arrival Nibali.
"It is an honour and pleasure for me to ride side by side with them pursuing the common goals," said Boaro.
Martinelli, son of directeur sportif Giuseppe, joined from Deceuninck-QuickStep at the beginning of 2020. The Brescia native is a contemporary of new signing Gianni Moscon and is likely to race in support of him in the Classics next Spring.
"I am also happy to see that our Classics group has been strengthened so I hope we will be more competitive in these races," said Martinelli.
Tejada already caught the eye in his debut season as a professional, when he rode strongly in support of Miguel Ángel López at the 2020 Tour de France. In 2022, he will link up with his fellow Colombian once again, as López re-joins after an unhappy spell at Movistar. Astana have also signed their compatriot Sebastian Henao from Ineos for next season.
"Well, the last season was not the one I was hoping for due to different reasons, mostly connected with health problems and crashes. I expected a better debut at the Giro d’Italia," said Tejada, who placed 36th overall at the Giro.
"I hope I will be able to return to the level of 2020 when I had a really good season, and I will work 200 per cent to become stronger. I see some important and good changes inside the team, and I am really happy to welcome the new riders coming to our team and, of course, Miguel Ángel López who is coming back to us."
Astana’s roster has undergone significant changes for 2022 following the departure of Premier Tech as co-sponsor and the restoration of Alexandre Vinokourov as general manager.
They hae made 13 signings, including Nibali, Moscon, López and Joe Dombrowski, while Vlasov, Jakob Fulsang, Gorka and Ion Izagirre and Luis Leon Sanchez are among the riders to leave the squad for pastures new.
