“Jakob [Fuglsang] will ride the Tour as team captain,” Team Astana Manager Giuseppe Martinelli confirmed
After ending his two year association with the Luxembourg outfits, Team Leopard Trek and Team RadioShack-Nissan, Jakob Fuglsang is on track to mark his successful start with the Kazakhstani side, Team Astana for the season ahead.
The cyclist is eyeing the Tour de France as his season’s biggest goal and will lead the side in the most prestigious cycling race of the season.
It will be Fuglsang’s third appearance at the French race after his 2010 and 2011 participations where he managed to finish at the 50th overall position on both the occasions.
The news was confirmed by Team Manager Giuseppe Martinelli, who also confirmed that the cyclist will do the Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphine and few of the Classics as the team captain.
The 27-year marked his professional debut with the Danish outfit, Team Saxo Bank in 2009-10 seasons before joining Team Leopard Trek in 2011 and finally moved to Team RadioShack-Nissan for 2012 season.
He helped the team with several top performances in the current season including first place finishes at the National Time Trial Championships along with overall victories at the Tour de Luxembourg and the Tour of Austria 2012.
Fuglsang succeeded during the stage 4 of the Tour of Austria and claimed the sixth overall position at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge 2012.
The 2012 Amstel Gold Race, Enrico Gasparotto will mark his Tour de France debut under the leadership of Jakob.
“There is the possibility, for the first time in my life, to do the Tour de France. I will go to the Tour to help Jakob do well in the overall classification and maybe win stages,” Gasparotto said.
“It will be my first time at the Tour so I will be like a child on the first day of school”.
While Fuglsang will lead the team at the Tour, Vincenzo Nibali will be heading towards the Giro d’Italia which gives an opportunity for Janez Brajkovic will seize his own opportunities at the Giro besides supporting Nibali as confirmed by Team Manager.
“Jani will definitely have an important role in 2013. We are still working together to assess his race schedule,” Martinelli confirmed.
It will be interesting to see if Jakob manages to find the right momentum early on the season to help the new team with support they need from the reigning Swiss Time Trial champion.
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