Michael Valgren had an impressive spring season, notably taking second place in Amstel Gold Race. After his good year, the 24-year-old received numerous offers for the next season, including a big contract from Team Sky. But finally, the Dane chose Astana Pro Team. He will find several compatriots in the team, Matti Breschel, Jesper Hansen and Jakob Fuglsang and sports director Lars Michaelsen.

"In the last three years I've been a worker for other riders most of the time but I want to see if I'm a winner, to see if I'm good enough," Valgren told Cyclingnews during a training camp in Tuscany. "Astana believes in me. I had other offers but there's always a lot of talking in cycling. There's never any real money on the table unless they really want you. I chose this team because I knew I could have my chances. I look young but I think I'm a quick learner too and I feel ready to step up."

Valgren likes the mindset of the Kazakh team.

"Astana race aggressively and so do I. That's the best way because it's wrong to bet on one horse in the biggest Classics. If we go on the attack I don't think the other teams will see us a big rivals but I think we can surprise some people with our strength as a team. Matti is often unlucky with crashes but he has years of experience in the cobbled classics and is always where you have to be at the right moments. Lutsenko is a huge talent and he's strong. We have a strong team and strong leaders."