American Joe Dombrowski began his transition as one of the newest members of the Astana Kazakstan team by attending the New Players Meeting near Montecatini Terme in Tuscany at the end of October, along with Vincenzo Nibali and David de la Cruz.

He is currently 30 years old.

Now 30 years old and a veteran of nine seasons in the World Tour peloton, Dombrowski won his first Grand Tour victory last year with UAE Team Emirates on stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia. 2022 will see him return to Astana, with Miguel Angel Lopez and Nibali, as well as De la Cruz, who also moved from UAE Team Emirates, said he would be an important support rider in the Grand Tours.

"Obviously Astana has been around for a long time. I think they are a team that concentrates on stage racing and Grand Tours. I myself could potentially play a role in either finding a Grand Tour stage that I particularly like or helping GC riders in a Grand Tour or a week-long stage race," Dombrowski, who was in Virginia this month, said in an interview with FloBikes. [I know guys like Valerio Conti, Liabushenko, and De la Cruz, and one of the coaches is coming [from UAE Team Emirates]. Of course, one of the big names is (Vincenzo) Nibali and his brother (Antonio).

Dombrowski spoke with UAE Team Emirates earlier this year, but after receiving no assurances from the team about renewing his contract after two seasons, he began asking several other teams about job prospects. He signed a contract with Astana for the next two years.

"Astana was interested and I thought it was a good opportunity. I wanted to wear blue next year," he told FloBikes.

"Also, when I talked to the other guys who were on the team, they always said it was a nice environment, a family oriented team. It was ideal in a way,

"And I think having been through a few teams has made it easier for me to move on to other teams. I'm looking forward to the next couple of years."

Dombrowski, who was a member of UAE Team Emirates, said his two seasons there flew by. This was mainly due to the lack of racing in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the shortened calendar. His big takeaways were a win in the Giro, a second-place finish in the third stage of the Vuelta a España, and being teammates with two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogachar.

"I think he's probably the best rider in the world right now. He won the Tour de France. He's ridden three Grand Tours now and won two. And he has won multiple stages. He doesn't just do well in Grand Tours, he can get results anywhere," Dombrowski said.

"He's also won one-day races. He can do well in almost any race. You won't necessarily see him in the Classics, but if he runs a cobbled Classic, I feel like he could be up there as well. There doesn't seem to be anything he can't do."

Dombrowski said the 23-year-old Pogachar is advanced not only in physical strength but also in mental strength.

"One of his advantages is that he is really calm. He is still very young. It's not hard to imagine that there will be immense pressure on him in the future. But it's really natural and easy for him. He does it without much mental energy. I think in the long run it will help him a lot."

"Sometimes successful athletes have a weight lifted off their shoulders. He's like a little boy just out there having fun and riding his bike. And everything seems to come naturally to him. I think his state of mind and the fact that he is very calm and enjoys what he is doing will serve him very well. Besides, he is clearly talented. I haven't seen a rider like him in a long time."

Dombrowski himself was a highly touted youngster when he burst onto the scene with an impressive victory in the 2012 under-23 Giro d'Italia for the U.S. Continental team. he won GC at the 2015 Rally H. Miller Tour of Utah and in 2019 was third in GC with the Slipstream team, and then moved to UAE Team Emirates to restart his career.

"It was a good experience, certainly different from EF (Education-Nippo). In fact, I don't think any team is much different at the World Tour level. They fight the same races, they go to the same places for training camps. Professional cycling is a small world," Dombrowski recalled.

"Sometimes it's good to change. You get to be in a new environment, work with new people, and get new things out of it. In a way, it can rejuvenate you [New team, new environment. New team, new environment. Some of the players I've known for a while, a little familiar. I even got to know some of the new players a few weeks ago. And now we're going to Kazakhstan.

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