XDS-Astana bring back the old days with a new rap song
Some teams celebrate milestones with a gala dinner. Others order a commemorative jersey and call it a day. Astana have always preferred a slightly stranger route. When they want to mark a moment, they reach for a microphone.
The team have dropped a new rap track and video to mark their twentieth anniversary and to toast what they present as a strong 2025 season.
It is not the first time, either. In 2019, Astana went viral with a homemade rap clip that felt like a dressing room joke that somehow escaped into the wider world. Laurens De Vreese and Jakob Fuglsang joined in, while team boss Alexandre Vinokourov played ringleader. It was cheesy, rough around the edges, and weirdly endearing.
A few years later they tried again, with a cleaner look and a better sense of rhythm. Same idea, sharper execution, and a cast of riders (Vincenzo Nibali, Alexey Lutsenko, Samuele Battistella and Joe Dombrowski) who leaned into the role with more confidence. Vinokourov, unsurprisingly, still looked the most comfortable in front of the camera.
This new chapter keeps that tradition alive. Vinokourov features again, alongside his son Nicolas, and the current squad takes turns on the mic. Davide Ballerini, Alberto Bettiol, Aaron Gate, and Nicola Conci all appear, with Conci even throwing in a guitar solo.
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