Joe Dombrowski will ride for Astana in 2022 after signing a two-year contract with the team. The American arrives at Astana after two seasons in the colours of UAE Team Emirates. He won his first Grand Tour stage this season at the Giro d’Italia.
“Astana is a big team with a long history and this team has had great successes in the sport for many years, and I am excited to become a part of that,” Dombrowski said in a statement released by his new team on Thursday.
“I am looking forward to meeting the team and to sitting down with the management at the training camps this off season and to establishing my objectives. Whether that’s to help the team or the opportunity to ride for my own results, it is going to be a great new challenge for me.”
Dombrowski entered the professional ranks with Team Sky in 2013 after claiming an impressive victory at the under-23 Giro d’Italia the previous year. His tenure at Sky was blighted by an iliac artery problem but he began to hit his stride following a transfer to Slipstream in 2015, when he claimed overall victory at the Tour of Utah.
A strong climber with aggressive instincts, Dombrowski has raced the Giro every year since 2016, with a highest overall finish of 12th in 2019. The 30-year-old scored a fine victory beneath driving rain at Sestola on stage 4 of this year’s race and he later placed second at Picòn Blanco on stage 3 of the 2021 Vuelta a España.
Dombrowski is the latest addition to Astana’s revamped 2021 roster, following the arrivals of Vincenzo Nibali, Gianni Moscon and David de la Cruz. It is also expected that Miguel Angel Lopez will return to the squad after his contract with Movistar was dissolved.
“First of all, in Joe Dombrowski we see a strong climber and an experienced helper for team leaders at the Grand Tours,” said general manager Alexandre Vinokourov. “Our team is going to change a lot in the upcoming season, and we are happy to strengthen our Grand Tour group with such a reliable and versatile rider like Joe.
“But, of course, we understand that with the experience he gained during the last years, Dombrowski could be a rider we can count on looking for a stage win or going for the general classification in a small stage race.”
