Astana Pro Team signs with Fabio Felline
«I am very happy to join Astana Pro Team, because by my opinion this is one of the strongest teams around the world. I am very motivated to come to this team because I feel like in this team I will have a chance to show to everyone that I can still perform on a very high level. I am a rider, who knows how to win and year by year during my career I was always winning the races. After last two seasons with some bad luck and the things which could not turn around in a way I’d liked to be, I feel that it came a moment when I have to change something and to find a team, where I could come back on a winning way, a team with a winning spirit. And I found this in Astana Pro Team. I am ready to be a helper for the leaders if the team would need it, but in the same time I am ready to fight for a victory in races where I’ll have a chance to show myself,» said Fabio Felline.
Fabio Felline (29 years old) is going to join Astana Pro Team after six seasons in Trek – Segafredo team. Felline is a very strong all-rounder, who performs well in time trial races but also is doing really good in different kind of hilly races. Among his best results can be noted the GP de Fourmies in 2015, the green (point) jersey of the Vuelta a España in 2016 and the Trofeo Laigueglia in 2017. Alongside, he won a stage at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in 2015, he was second in the general classification of the Tour de Pologne in 2016 and won a stage at the Tour de Romandie in 2017, being 4th in the final overall standings, the Team's official website reads.
In 2019 Felline was 9th in the general classification of the Etoile de Besseges, 7th in the individual time trial of the Italian National Championships, 5th in a stage of the Tour de France and 11th in the overall of the Binck Bank Tour.
«First of all, we know Fabio Felline as a strong time-trialist, and I think that he can bring more of this discipline in our team. We are working on improving our team time trial and Felline looks as being a right rider to strength us. Moreover, Fabio is a strong rider in all kind of hilly races, and I’d like to see him in the classics, where we also need some improvement. Fabio Felline is coming to us after a long period in one team and I hope that this change will help him to rediscover his big potential and to shine again in the races,» said Alexandr Vinokurov.