Former Kazakh pro cyclist Andrey Kashechkin have a lot in common with his more renowned compatriot Alexandre Vinokourov, even though he didn’t manage to bounce back from a darker periods of his career and hang up his wheels in a glory of an Olympic champion. Observing an impressive progress of his fellow countryman as the Astana manager, Kashechkin realized that Kazakhstan is a way too big country to have only one professional cycling squad and decided to break an unfair monopoly by setting up his own unit.

“In the international arena, it is absolutely normal to have two teams in one country,” the Kazakh rider said at the press conference in Petropavlovsk last week. “There are enough examples in the USA and Europe. If possible, I want to form another professional team.”

Even though he is yet to find sponsors ready to back his project, his plans are undeniably bold as he aims to establish a whole sports center and medical clinic in the city of Almaty to support his squad.

“We will continue to bring riders to Europe because this is one of the best regions for cycling. Additionally, we also want to open specialized medical clinics in Kazakhstan as it is very important part of the professional sport.”