A stunning remontada - XDS Astana 2025 verdict

Mark Cavendish’s record-breaking 35th stage win at the Tour de France in 2024 is a moment that will forever live long in the memory of those involved at Astana. However, beyond this achievement, it was a year to forget, with the team finishing 21st in the UCI team rankings. 

More significantly, the team were virtually in a relegation position in the UCI three-year cycle ranking, which determines who receives a WorldTour license. Not only were the team in the virtual relegation zone, but they were nearly 5,000 points from safety and would need to overtake three teams.

A glimmer of hope for the team was the arrival of the Chinese company XDS as a primary sponsor and with an ambition to invest. 

To combat their problems, the new investments saw wholesale changes with 14 riders in and the same number out. Among those to arrive were the experienced trio of Wout Poels, Diego Ulissi and Mike Teunissen. Departing the team was the retiring duo of Cavendish and Michael Mørkov, as well as one of the team’s most valuable riders in Alexey Lutsenko, who moved to Israel-Premier Tech.

Ultimately, it would take a miracle for the team to avoid relegation from the WorldTour at the end of the 2025 season. Could they pull it off?

Wins: 32
UCI Ranking: 4th
The Verdict: 9/10

XDS Astana in 2025 were magnificent. The team had drawn a plan to place as many riders in high race positions as possible rather than going all in for one rider for success. It was a plan that worked to perfection, and it’s not like they struggled for victories by deploying this tactic. 

In total, the team won 32 races, their highest tally since 2019, and ended the season 4th in the UCI team rankings. In terms of the three-year cycle, their performances and results were enough to steer the team clear of the relegation picture by over 4,000 points. 

A remarkable change in fortunes for the Kazakhstan team, who will be wanting to kick on in 2026 to avoid a similar precarious situation in the next relegation cycle.

Christian Scaroni started his season like a house on fire, consistently racking up high positions in almost every Spanish one-day race he started at the end of January and into the start of February. This culminated in a victory on French soil at the Classic Var, before adding the opening stage of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes just one day later, a race in which he would also take the overall. 

The major classics didn’t go fully to plan with the Italian rider after abandoning both Strade Bianche and the Amstel Gold Race. However, he returned to finish 23rd at both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The highlight of the season came at the Giro d’Italia, where Scaroni rode a combative race throughout. He was rewarded with a victory on stage 16, where he was able to enjoy the moment, crossing the line together with his teammate Lorenzo Fortunato. A moment that all but confirmed that XDS Astana had shifted the momentum and was steering clear of relegation. 

Following a 3rd place finish at the Arctic Race of Norway, Scaroni rounded out his season with a flurry of strong performances at the end-of-season Italian one-day races, with a brief stop in France, where he finished 4th at the European Championships. Victory at the Giro della Romagna and 15th at Il Lombardia were the final highlights of the best season of the Italian’s career so far, which saw him finish 14th in the UCI rankings.

The Giro d’Italia marked the turning of the ship for XDS Astana. Diego Ulissi enjoyed a brief spell in the maglia rosa, a special moment for the Italian veteran at his home race. The good feeling continued as Christian Scaroni and Lorenzo Fortunato completed an epic 1-2 finish on stage 16, with the reverse order being for the final KoM standings. In all, the team were combative throughout, with a positive team feeling shining through, evident by their performances, and rewarded with success.

With the team’s ambition of scoring as many points as possible, the performances of Champoussin in his debut season would have been a welcome sight. Champoussin started his campaign with 3rd at the GP Castellón, before multiple top 10 finishes at a number of Spanish and French one-day races, including 4th at the Faun-Ardèche Classic.

The Frenchman then finished 7th at Paris-Nice with three top-10 stage results, narrowly missing out on 2nd on stage 5 victory behind Lenny Martinez. Champoussin also finished 10th at both Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Suisse, with top-10 stage positions at both, key results for the team’s chances of survival.

In all, Champoussin picked up important UCI points for the team in a GC capacity and ended the season 64th in the UCI rankings. With plenty of top 10 stage positions and results in one-day races, the Frenchman will be looking for a 4th career victory in 2026.

Nicola Conci reached 89 race days for XDS Astana in 2025, six more than any other rider. Among these race days included the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. 

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