It's not much, but Astana Qazaqstan bosses are throwing the best they've got towards the 2024 Tour de France.
Regardless of how it turns out, the Kazakh team will write on big story with their British sprinter Mark Cavendish. The Manxman's retirement from last year's Tour de France in tears after having crashed during the eighth stage was an emotional moment for every cycling fan, just like for the rider himself.
Currently 39 years old Cavendish was planning to hang up his bike after the season, but the 2023 Tour disappointment changed things. The lasting trust of team boss Alexandr Vinokurov convinced one of the best sprinters of cycling history to stick around for one more year. One more chance to shoot to the stars and grab the much-desired 35th Tour de France stage victory. There's hardly anyone who wouldn't wish for that to happen at this point.
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For sprints, Cavendish will count on his good friend Michael Mørkøv to set him up in the best possible way. The 39-year-old Mørkøv, widely regarded as best leadout-man in the peloton just few years ago, is also considering hanging up his bike after the season just like Cav. What better way to wrap up a career would there be for the two, then by winning a Tour de France stage?
It will be up to Yevgeniy Fedorov, Michele Gazzoli, Davide Ballerini and Cees Bol to set up the Astana's 'dream train'. Whether the final position before Cavendish will be occupied by Bol or Mørkøv is yet to be seen though as the team experimented with the exact composition a bit in last months.
But it won't be all about the sprints in Astana. Sure, the main narrative will follow the team in the flat stages, however there ambitions in the mountains as well.
Alexey Lutsenko had turbulent months leading up to the Tour. First there was a lot of hope after his dominant showing at Giro del Abruzzo, but later a streak of illnesses saw the 31-year-old Kazakh abandon Tour de Romandie as well as Giro d'Italia from a solid GC position after a week of racing. His recent performances at Tour de Suisse didn't seem very optimistic, but you never know what's up in store for 7th man of the 2021 Tour de France.
Last on the selection is Colombian climber Harold Tejada might prove to be a safer bet for GC than Lutsenko, but also Tejada didn't have an ideal run-up to Grande Boucle as we saw the 27-year-old mix good performances with lesser days in past months. A stage could be a realistic goal for the climbers duo in upcoming three weeks.
Astana Qazaqstan lineup for Tour de France 2024:
Mark Cavendish
Michael Mørkøv
Alexey Lutsenko
Yevgeniy Fedorov
Cees Bol
Harold Tejada
Davide Ballerini
Michele Gazzoli
Michael Mørkøv
Alexey Lutsenko
Yevgeniy Fedorov
Cees Bol
Harold Tejada
Davide Ballerini
Michele Gazzoli
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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🇫🇷 ROSTER: @LeTour 🇬🇧 @MarkCavendish 🇩🇰 @MichaelMorkov 🇰🇿 @AlexeyLutsenko3 🇰🇿 Yevgeniy Fedorov 🇳🇱 @ceesbol1995 🇨🇴 @haroldtejada1 🇮🇹 Davide Ballerini 🇮🇹 Michele Gazzoli #TDF2024 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam
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