"It’s better to win two or three stages, no?" - Stage wins with Mark Cavendish and Alexey Lutsenko the goal for Astana's Tour de France

Without Miguel Ángel López and Vincenzo Nibali, Astana Qazaqstan Team have become a team without the weapons to strike big in a Grand Tour's overall classification. Stage wins become it's main goal, and at the upcoming Tour de France, the team will put all their coins on a victory for Mark Cavendish or Alexey Lutsenko.

"We need to concentrate on the races now and we are not thinking in the Tour de France right now," team manager Vinokourov told CyclingWeekly and TuttoBiciWeb. “For GC, we now don’t have the riders. Ok, we could get a top-10 with Lutsenko, but it’s better to win two or three stages, no? I think we will be chasing the stages."

The climbing-filled route will suit the pure climbers, but it is very clear at this point that Alexey Lutsenko will not be pursuing GC goals this summer at the Grand Boucle, but instead put his efforts into trying to capture a stage. Simultaneously, the Kazakh team will likely try to support Mark Cavendish as well as possible in the many sprints that should take place, as one single win could make the team's whole race in terms of exposure.

“Last year was not very good, but now I think we will improve and we have new motivation with Mark, and for the riders that’s important. I hope we can be better," Vinokourov continued.

“It would have been ideal to train the leadout a little but in the training camps, but Cavendish arrived at the last minute. Then the races started so it’s not been possible to train, but in the future it will be possible to work on it in training."

Cavendish had a first test at the Tour of Oman, but he has stressed how there was no pressure to perform in his first competitive outing with the team. Although he has spoken on how Astana don't put pressure on him, if Cavendish wants to beat Eddy Merckx' Tour de France win record he will need to be demanding with himself, and the upcoming UAE Tour will be an important test to gauge his level amongst his peers.

“But we have started well. We have only had one sprinting stage to practice, but we are creating a good feeling, and we will continue to do so in the next races. Mark is a great champion, he is super happy, and our squad will give their maximum," he concluded.

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Uma publicação compartilhada por Mark Cavendish (@markcavendish)