The XDS Astana crew will pivot dramatically for 2025 after Chinese language bike producer XDS grew to become a significant investor, boosting the crew’s ambitions and funds.
Mark Cavendish’s historic however singular stage victory on the Tour de France is a part of the crew’s previous, with the arrival of a Chinese language title sponsor and WorldTour survival step one in the direction of tremendous crew standing.
XDS Astana have signed 13 new riders for 2025, together with Wout Poels, Diego Ulissi, Mike Teunissen, Sergio Higuita, Clément Champoussin and Aaron Gate. Alberto Bettiol joined mid-season in 2024, indicating the crew’s post-Cavendish plans.
Kiwi sprinter Gate was a strategic signing. He received the Tour of Hainan and the Trans-Himalaya Biking Race in China in 2024 however may also rating treasured further factors within the New Zealand and Oceania championships. He’ll crew up with Italy’s Matteo Malucelli, who received ten minor races in 2024 and impressed at Le Tour de Langkawi.
Alex Dowsett, Pete Kennaugh and Dario Cataldo have bolstered the crew’s efficiency and administration employees, with Vasilis Anastopoulos main a Efficiency group of 13 employees members.
Cavendish appeared set for a job within the crew after successful on the Tour de France and ending his profession. Nevertheless, Vinokourov instructed Cyclingnews that the Manxman is not going to have a job in 2025, with out closing the door to his future involvement within the crew.
XDS has considerably boosted the funds however the crew will likely be registered in Kazakhstan in 2025, with Vinokourov firmly in management.
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“We’ve got a superb relationship with Mark, he was essential to us. However generally it isn’t straightforward to seek out a precise function for somebody within the crew and that was the case with Mark,” Vinokourov defined.
“Mark did not wish to simply be an envoy for the crew, Mark wished to be a part of the decision-making construction however that wasn’t doable but. We nonetheless have a superb relationship and we’ll see what occurs later. Possibly sooner or later.”
Cavendish’s record-breaking thirty fifth Tour victory was a historic second for the crew however in 2025, XDS Astana will likely be totally targeted on scoring important UCI rating factors. Each level will rely, from the beginning of the season in January till the top of the season on the Tour of Guangxi in China.
XDS Astana begins 2025 in twenty first place within the three-year UCI crew rating, behind Uno-X Mobility, Arkéa – B&B Inns and Cofidis. They should pull again over 4000 factors in the event that they wish to end within the high 18 groups and so safe a spot within the 2026-2028 WorldTour. Some imagine it’s unimaginable however the crew have set it as a purpose.
“It is only a pity that Mark’s thirty fifth Tour victory wasn’t price 5000 UCI rating factors,” Vinokourov stated, properly conscious of the battle his crew faces.
“Our purpose is to maintain our WorldTour licence in 2025 after which we are able to construct increasingly more. Possibly we are able to then signal a Grand Tour rider to focus on the GC. The sponsors wish to develop and change into a brilliant crew, like UAE, Purple Bull and others. It isn’t straightforward and does not come rapidly. It will be step-by-step.”
XDS Astana offered their ambitions, new X-Lab model race bike and new jersey on the XDS manufacturing facility on the weekend. The crew has been in Spain for a lot of December. The riders are coaching arduous, the employees working to combine all of the modifications.
New Efficiency Engineer Alex Dowsett is satisfied the brand new X-Lab bikes will likely be aggressive at WordTour stage, proper from the beginning of the season, with additional enchancment doable due to the crew’s direct hyperlink to the XDS manufacturing facility in China.
Anastopoulos helped Cavendish return to his finest in 2034 however has created a race plan and technique to maximise XDS Astana’s factors scoring potential.
“The crew has modified massively, we have been working arduous since final Could. It isn’t straightforward however most of it’s completed and the crew is coming collectively. XDS has invested massively, we have made modifications and now it is as much as us.” Vinokourov instructed Cyclingnews.
“There are eight or so groups preventing to keep away from relegation subsequent 12 months. I imagine we are able to do it. We’ll goal factors and success proper from the Tour Down Below in January. We have added about 40 extra on-day races to our programme to focus on extra factors.
“We have completed our calculations and with the brand new riders we have signed, with good motivation and with our good bikes from XDS, I feel we are able to rating the factors wanted to remain within the WorldTour.”
