The Astana Qazaqstan management are staying tightlipped about reports of an offer by a Chinese businessman to buy the team and invest considerable sums over five years to make it one of the top-three teams in the peloton.
According to a report in L’Équipe, the longstanding Kazakh squad has received an offer to purchase the final year of their WorldTour licence for 2025.
When contacted by Cyclingnews to ask about the potential deal, team manager Alexander Vinokourov responded with a categorical ‘No comment.’
He claimed he was in Kazakhstan but another sources suggested he was in China.
Astana Qazaqstan are preparing for the 2024 Tour de France with the team centred on British sprinter Mark Cavendish making a bid for a record-breaking 35th stage win. Cavendish is due to take part in the Tour de Suisse which begins on Sunday.
18 of the teams' current 29 riders out of contract in 2025, according to L’Équipe, which “could well lead to a major overhaul of the team.”
The French newspaper also speculates that any takeover could lead to a doubling in the squad’s budget, making it a super team in the sport alongside UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Ineos Grenadiers.
Astana have faced financial difficulties and budget reductions in recent years and face a battle for ranking points to avoid relegation from the WorldTour at the end of 2025.
Since Astana took over as a title sponsor in 2006, the team has been one of the WorldTour's longest standing set-ups, with wins in the Tour de France in 2014 with Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador in 2009 two of the biggest highlights.
A report in Globalpeloton cited an unnamed source as saying initial contacts had been established between Astana Qazaqstan and Chinese bike company Pardus about a possible secondary sponsorship deal. However, according to the same source, these negotiations had not succeeded due to the request for significant funding and bikes in return for a place in the WorldTour.
The China Glory-Mentech Continental team was created to help develop Chinese riders but an investment in Astana Qazaqstan would surely see big-name riders leading the team.
Nothing has been confirmed but in a recent state visit to the Pyrenees by Chinese President Xi Jinping, he was gifted a Tour de France leader’s jersey by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.
