Astana once again lined up with a formidable roster consisting of both Giro d’Italian and Tour de France contenders at the Tour de Romandie, to use the Swiss mountainous WorldTour event as a performance test ahead of season’s major objectives.

The Kazakh team is led by Vincenzo Nibali, who hopes to carry out the disposition from the Ardennes classics, but Astana’s Giro d’Italia contenders in likes of Janez Brajkovic or Valentin Iglinsky also feature in the squad, aiming to use the Swiss event as their final test ahead of the season’s first grand tour event.

"It has always been on the program for Vincenzo to race Romandie - this is an excellent chance to come with a full mountain squad to test the fitness so far, and also to go for a win against targetted competitors ahead of the season's top goal at the Tour de France," said Astana DS Gorazd Stangelj to Cyclingnews.

"The start list should be a good indicator of the team's prep ahead of the Giro with Brajkovic, and then will provide key Tour de France riders with a last chance to work together in a race environment before heading back to train in the month leading up to the Dauphine"

Astana roster for the Tour de Romandie consists of:

Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang, Lieuwe Westra, Valentin Iglinskiy, Andriy Grivko, Tanel Kangert, Janez Brajkovic and Fredrik Kessiakoff.