Michael Valgren has moved to the Astana team for 2017, confident that his second place at the Amstel Gold Race and strong showing in the cold at Liege-Bastogne-Liege has earned him the right to be a protected rider and team leader in the sport's toughest Classics.
The 24-year-old Dane had several offers for 2017 after the demise of the Tinkoff team, with Team Sky also interested in his talents. However after Bjarne Riis failed to create a new WorldTour team, Valgren opted for Astana. The Kazakhstan team have also signed fellow Dane Matti Breschel and directeur sportif Lars Michaelsen to help Valgren. With climber Jesper Hansen and Jakob Fuglsang also at Astana, the Danes have their own little unit in the Kazakhstan-sponsored, Italian-staffed team.
"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 at the Astana get together in Tuscany, where he was fitted with his new Argon 18 bike and got to know his new teammates.
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"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.
"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."
Valgren my have a baby face and will only turn 25 in February but has been a professional since 2011 and joined Tinkoff in 2014, a protégé of former team owner Bjarne Riis. He has finished both the Vuelta a Espana and this year's Tour de France and has ridden Liege-Bastogne-Liege three times. He is no debutant. He revealed he will be based in Monte Carlo for the 2017 season and intends to put pressure on himself to perform. He may also test his ability in the cobbled Classics and even on the harsh cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
Flash backs of finishing second in the Amstel Gold Race
Riis and Tinkov
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