It has been a tumultuous season for Astana Kazakstan from a sponsorship standpoint. After adding Mark Cavendish to the roster at the last minute, the team had a falling out with Scicon over sunglasses, and now changes are happening in the wheel department.

Several members of the team have recently been spotted using HED wheels instead of the regular wheels provided by Colima. Cavendish used the new hoops at the recent Giro di Sicilia, as did race winner Alexey Lutsenko, and others are now using them at the Tour of the Alps.

The move is probably intended to improve the aerodynamic package of the team bikes and to select the tubeless option. It appears that Colima has also begun offering tubeless options, and Astana Kazakstan has decided to work with two suppliers at the same time.

It is not uncommon in the modern peloton for initial decisions on equipment and performance to change, and some teams even use equipment that is not sponsored correctly, especially in time trials.

Usually, efforts are made to hide the true manufacturer. However, it is clear that Astana Kazakstan uses HED wheels, as evidenced by the three giant blue HED logos.

The lack of concealment on the part of the mechanics indicates that this is not targeted at a specific race, but is part of a long-term move to use HED tubeless wheels.

Both Astana Kazakstan and HED acknowledged to Cycling News that an official supplier agreement has been signed.

"Astana rides our wheels and we are excited to be able to supply them. There are always a few riders here and there doing time trials on our products, but it's been a while since an entire ProTour team has run on our wheels," HED told Cycling News.

"We are a small company that manufactures our own products and to supply an entire team is a big commitment. Initially, the team was looking for an aerodynamic wheel for the TT, and in early spring they built and sent several sets of Vanquish Discs/Vanquish 8s. After some testing, they also requested wheels for mass starts."

The reason for the blue logo is very simple." It's something we can do and it looks cool."

Astana Kazakstan confirmed that HED is a supplier, but not a complete replacement for Colima, which still provides wheels to the team.

The current combination could simply be due to HED's inability to supply enough wheels on such short notice, suggesting that the Astana side wants to start running with the new gear as soon as possible, optics notwithstanding.

Astana has made a second sponsor and equipment change this year, following the controversy over sunglasses.

As Cyclingnews revealed, Italy's Cyclone terminated its contract with Oakley after Cavendish, a longtime personal sponsor, signed with the team and raced wearing a rival brand of sunglasses.