Jacob Fuglsang (Astana) has recovered from the disease that forced him to pull out of Paris-Nice in time to lead his Astana squad at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya starting today.

Due to illness, the Danish rider failed to complete stage 4 at Paris-Nice won by Michael Albasini (Orica GreenEDGE).  Now, however, things are looking better for Fuglsang, as his Kazakh team has said he is on his way back to a complete recovery.

"Jacob Fuglsang rides back into full strength this week at the 93rd Volta Ciclistica a Catalunya in Spain, recovered from intestinal trouble that saw him withdraw last week from Paris-Nice," said an official team release.

Slow start

Since joining the Astana squad at the end of last year, Fuglsang has enjoyed a relatively slow build-up to the 2013 season. The Dane began his season at the Ruta Del Sol by taking three top-ten finishes on the way to sixth overall.

He never seemed to be in contention at his next race in Paris-Nice, however. The team has enlisted the services of Italian all-rounders Agnoli and Gavazzi to support the 27-year-old at Catalunya while Andrea Guardini is back to racing after picking up his first season win at Tour de Langkawi.

Fuglsang will be looking to stamp his mark on two mountain stages on stages three and four and a sharp circuit race in Barcelona with eight ascents of Alto de Montjuic on the last stage on Sunday.

The Astana Pro Team line up for Volta Ciclistica a Catalunya: Valerio Agnoli, Fabio Aru, Alexandr Dyachenko, Jakob Fuglsang, Fracensco Gavazzi, Andrea Guardini, Andrey Kashechkin and Egor Silin.