Tour de France: Alexey Lutsenko leads Astana Qazaqstan Team in attempt to revive Kazakh team

Astana Qazaqstan are so far having a poor season in many aspects, however they will be looking to turn that around at the Tour de France where they have high ambitions after Vincenzo Nibali's grand surprise at the Giro d'Italia.

Alexey Lutsenko will be the team leader once again. The Kazakh had a strong start to the season but injuries caught up with him having him miss out on the spring campaign. The 29-year old will be looking to replicate or improve on last year's seventh place, a much needed result for Astana who may also use him to hunt for stage wins.

Of that however will be plenty riders. The Italian composition of the team is made out of riders who will likely have freedom to chase stages in puncheurs such as Fabio Felline, Simone Velasco, Samuele Battistella and Gianni Moscon. Joe Dombrowski and Andrey Zeits will be more guided towards the mountains, where they are more likely to play support roles for Lutsenko, whilst Dmitriy Gruzdev will be road captain and will be guiding Lutsenko through the flat stages.

Astana Qazaqstan Team for Tour de France: Alexey Lutsenko, Andrey Zeits, Dmitriy Gruzdev, Fabio Felline, Simone Velasco, Samuele Battistella, Gianni Moscon, Joe Dombrowski.