One of the toughest and most loyal domestique in the professional peloton is Astana’s Andrei Grivko. He is able to work selflessly for his leader on the cobbles, in short hills and on sprint stages, often setting tempo before the race hits the big mountains for the climbers. He spoke to CyclingQuotes about his 2016 objectives with the Kazakh team at the conclusion of Astana’s winter training camp in Calpe, Spain.

“2015 was an excellent season for me. I was able to take 2nd place at the European Games in Baku, but of course I would have very much liked to win, but that day (teammate) Luis Leon (Sanchez) was stronger.”

Indeed, that was Grivko’s best result since he won the now-defunct Firenze-Pistoia one-day race in 2008 and his antional road race and time trial title back in Ukraine in 2012. Grivko really makes his money in the Classics, where he is Astana’s road captian and rides from Sanremo to Liege, only missing Roubaix this year, showcasing his love for the race and his durability. 

“In recent years, I have successfully performed at the Eneco Tour, I really like the classic one-day races, so I ride from San Remo to Liège. Next year I will make more effort to be in the best shape at these competitions to achieve great results.”

Grivko spoke about what went on at the Astana winter camp, which was much better than last year, where the team wasn’t sure if they would have their WorldTour licence taken away from them. The only downside was that Alessandro Vanotti broke his leg in a crash.

“Now we are at the team meeting in Calpe, we have a great atmosphere, we rode a lot of kilometers on the road, and devoted lots of time to organizational matters.”

Grivko is reliable when Astana let him off his leash, securing third overall in the 2013 Eneco Tour, and fifth just a month later in the Worlds road race, the first rider across the line after the winning move of four.  But for 2016, he will once again aim for team success, guiding Fabio Aru through the young Italian’s debut Tour de France with all of his 12 Grand Tours and experience coming to the fore. However, he still dreams of winning a Tour stage at 32.

“Next year, I’ll go the Tour de France to help our young and talented rider Fabio Aru. For all his domestiques, our goals are to protect him. All the same, I’d like to try to win a stage, if possible.”

Overall, the strong Grivko will look to help his team achieve more success. But he also has personal goals to fulfill in 2016, as he looks to improve in the Classics and perhaps finally win the Eneco Tour and other races.

“The year will be multi-faceted, where I will try to show the results in many races and also help my teammates to achieve good results.”