Astana Pro Team rider Assan Bazayev retires at the conclusion of the 2013 season, hanging up his wheels at the end of a ten-year career as a professional cyclist.

Bazayev, a 3-time national road race champion in Kazakhstan, was among Astana's first riders to clinch a victory in the team colours, winning a stage at the Deutschland Tour in 2006.

Astana Pro Team General Manager Alexandr Vinokourov praised Bazayev for his long and various career.

"Assan has been with the team since we started, and he has raced all around the world in Astana colours for the past decade. This year he was part of the Tour de France squad, and spent July helping his teammates across the Pyrenees and the Alps on the road to Paris. We will miss him on the road, the bus and in the hotels before and after the races, and we wish him well in the next phase of his career," said Vinokourov on the Astana website.

Two young riders will join the Astana squad for 2014, bringing the full elite roster closer to completion. 22-year old Danill Fominykh rises up through the Continental Team Astana program and a very strong season spent racing through Europe and across the globe, and Valentin Iglinskiy returns to his brother's side after a year at France's Ag2r-La Mondiale.

"Fominykh has shown the potential to become a world-class rider this year, with a solid Top-10 at the U23 World Championships and a GC podium finish at the Tour of Qinghai Lake. He has a good time trial engine that we think will develop strongly, and he has shown us that he is willing to do the training that leads to results," said Vinokourov.

"Valentin is welcomed back with open arms, and we are happy to bring part of our family back to the team. The door was never closed to his return, and we know that when the Spring Classics come around next year, Valentin will be with us at Maxim's side to guide the team to the front," Vinokourov said.