The incredible season of XDS Astana

October 2024. Team Astana ends the season bidding farewell to Mark Cavendish, after helping him claim his record-breaking 35th stage win at the Tour de France — but the overall situation is critical. Throughout the entire year, the team collected only 12 victories, with Cav’s triumph being the sole one at WorldTour level. And it is precisely the WorldTour that the Kazakh team is preparing to leave for the first time, sitting 21st in the ranking and nearly 5,000 points behind the 18th spot — the last one ensuring “safety.”

But starting in December, the team seems determined to turn things around. A new partnership with XDS, a Chinese bicycle brand, is announced. In addition to bike supply, the deal brings fresh funding — something arguably missing since Premier Tech’s departure at the end of 2021. The goal is clear: to stay in the WorldTour by collecting as many high placings as possible with multiple riders in selected races across the globe. The transfer market reflects this new approach: experienced riders like Diego Ulissi, Wout Poels, Mike Teunissen, and Fausto Masnada arrive for European races, joined by Asian racing veterans Aaron Gate and Matteo Malucelli.

The new philosophy is applied right from the start of 2025: Aaron Gate finishes second at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (a WT event), while even before spring begins, Christian Scaroni shines in Europe with ten top-five finishes across Spain, France, and the Trofeo Laigueglia — including three victories. Then come the northern classics, where Davide Ballerini and Mike Teunissen deliver a string of strong results. By April, XDS Astana sits 19th in the team ranking, just one position shy of WorldTour retention, though still 1,800 points adrift.

Between spring and summer, the team fully embraces its ambitious plan, pursuing two parallel strategies. While Scaroni and Fortunato light up nearly every breakaway at the Giro d’Italia — even crossing the line together in San Valentino — a quieter campaign unfolds around the globe, chasing classifications and precious points. The outcome: four stage race victories — the Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye (Poels), the Tour de Hongrie (Harold Lopez), the Boucles de la Mayenne (Gate), and the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai (Mulubrhan) — for a total of 600 points, not counting all the stage placings.

At the Tour de France — naturally the defining moment for any struggling team — the Kazakhs arrive relaxed and confident, having already erased and even surpassed their deficit before the Grande Boucle begins. The collapse of teams like Intermarché–Wanty and Arkéa–B&B Hotels, coupled with an impressive twelve (yes, twelve!) top-ten finishes by an unstoppable Christian Scaroni between July and October, seals the outcome.

Mission accomplished: XDS Astana ends 2025 as the fourth-highest scoring team of the season and, most importantly, fifteenth in the 2023–2025 triennial ranking — securing another three years in the WorldTour.

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