Astana Pro Team extends Nikita Stalnov
«After three seasons in Astana, I am happy to stay in this team for another year. We have a great squad and I am very pleased to be a part of it. I thank Alexandr Vinokurov for his faith in me, I will do everything possible to justify this trust. The Olympic season is coming and participation in the Olympic Games is a dream of any athlete. At the end of the season I will analyze this year and will begin my preparation for a possible Olympic start. There are many guys in our team who deserve to perform at the Olympics, I am sure that each of my teammates will represent Kazakhstan with a great honor, but I will try to do everything possible to earn a place in the national team, for me it is a huge goal. Therefore, I am happy to have a possibility to prepare for it in Astana Pro Team. For this reason, I thank the management of our project and the main sponsor Samruk-Kazyna, which supports us for many years. In the new season I will strive for personal results, I would like to bring Astana some wins, but, of course, I am always ready to help our leaders at stage races and Grand tours,» said Nikita Stalnov.
Nikita Stalnov, 27, is spending his third season with the Kazakh team. Being a strong team player, this season Stalnov helped Miguel Angel Lopez to win the Colombia 2.1, helped Merhawi Kudus to take the Tour du Rwanda and supported Yuriy Natarov on reaching his first professional victory at the Tour of Almaty. Besides, Nikita Stalnov has a few Top-10 placements during this year: he was 7th and 10th at the stages of the Tour du Rwanda, 5th and 10th at the stages of the Tour of the Alps and 6th at a stage of the Tour of Almaty, Astana Pro Team’s official website reads.
«Nikita is a loyal team player, he is always in the corner of team’s leader. We saw it last year at the Vuelta a España, he confirmed it this season in many races, working for our leaders. Talking about his personal results, I am sure that Nikita has everything to improve and in the next season he will get a chance to show it,» said Alexandr Vinokurov.