Spanish cyclist Omar Fraile joins Astana Pro Team
"Astana is one of the biggest and most famous teams in the peloton, and for me, it will be a great honor to become a part of this project for the next two years. In previous seasons I've made a big step ahead in my development as a professional rider, and I hope, I will continue it in Astana Team. I really like the style of Astana Team and its great focus on the Grand Tours," Omar Fraile said.
The 27-year-old Omar Fraile, who turned professional in 2013, made his breakthrough in 2015 by winning the mountains classification at the Vuelta a Espana. His performance attracted the interest of a number of teams with the Basque rider eventually opting to leave Caja Rural for Dimension Data. He backed up his mountains classification win with another the following season. He also took victory in the mountains classification at the Vuelta a Burgos in 2016 and finished second at this year's Tour de Yorkshire.
"Omar is a very strong climber, who can be a good strengthening for our team at the Grand Tours. He can do well in any kind of climbs, but also he could be a strong part of the team in the team time trial races. We've been watching this athlete for a while, and this season he's impressed us at the Giro d'Italia. I am sure Fraile will be able to fully reach his potential in our team," said Alexander Vinokurov, general manager of Astana.