Klöden joins Astana

The 31-year-old, who has twice been on the podium at the Tour de France, admitted it was a tough decision to leave the team he has been at for eight years.

He told his personal website: "The parting from T-Mobile will not be easy for me after so many years but I look forward to a new challenge!"

He will be joined by compatriot Matthias Kessler, who won stage three of this year's Tour, at Astana.

Another former T-Mobile colleague Alexandere Vinokourov is also at the team and Klöden admitted that was a factor.

He commented: "With riders such as Alexandere Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin in a very strong team, we should be able to achieve a lot."

Kloeden will earn more than a million Euros per year at the ambitious squad who have also signed Gregory Rast from Phonak and René Haselbacher from Gerolsteiner in addition to acquiring ex-T-Mobile boss Walter Godefroot as team manager.