The Astana team announced they have renewed with Critérium du Dauphiné runner-up Alexey Lutsenko through the 2024 season.
The 29-year-old came through the organisation's development squad and signed his first professional contract with the team in 2013.
Astana lost co-title sponsor Premier Tech after a conflict over the removal of Alexandre Vinokourov from his role of team principal just before the Tour de France and have been at a disadvantage in the transfer market. The Canadian company is rumoured to be moving to support the financially-strapped Qhubeka team, possibly bringing along Jakob Fuglsang.
Vinokourov is now back in charge at Astana, with Vincenzo Nibali widely expected to join the team for 2022. With sponsorship coming from Kazakhstan, Vinokourov moved quickly to extend Lutsenko's contract.
"I am very happy to continue my professional career in our Kazakh Astana Team," Lutsenko said.
"During the years spent in the team, I have managed to become a leader, and for me this is both a responsibility and an incentive to continue to develop, to strive for new heights and every time to try to confirm my leadership position with new victories."
Twice the Kazakhstan road champion, Lutsenko has taken 30 victories with Astana, starting in 2014 with a stage of the Tour of Denmark.
His first WorldTour win came at the Tour de Suisse in 2015 and he has since taken stages in Paris-Nice, the Vuelta a España, Tour de France and most recently the Dauphiné. He also claimed the overall win at the Tour of Oman in 2018 and 2019 and Arctic Race of Norway in 2019. This season he had his highest finish in a Grand Tour, taking seventh overall at the Tour de France.
"This year, I managed to make a big step forward in the fight for the general classifications, both at big week-long races like the Critérium du Dauphiné and at the Grand Tours. My seventh place in the general classification of the Tour de France motivates me to continue moving in this direction so, in the future, I will be aiming to fight not only for the top 10, but also for the podium.
"I will enter the new season together with the Astana Team with new ambitions and goals. I am sure that together with the team management and coaches we will be able to determine my main goals for the next seasons, after which we will do our best to achieve what we want."
With the extension, Astana keep a key core rider in Lutsenko as Vinokourov returns to the top post.
"Alexey is a real team leader, who is not only winning and delivering high results, but who is also able to rally the team and lead it at the highest level races," Vinokourov said. "This year, an important step forward was made at the Tour de France, and for the first time in 16 years, a Kazakh rider was among the best 10 riders in the overall standings.
"Now Alexey is entering the age of the heyday of a professional rider, and I am very glad that we will continue this path together. There is a lot of work ahead, we will not stop there, but we will continue to move forward. Our team needs a leader like Alexey Lutsenko, and I am sure that in Astana, Alexey will have everything he needs to achieve the most ambitious goals."
