The XDS Astana crew’s push to achieve sufficient factors to stay within the WorldTour on the finish of the three-year promotion/relegation cycle this 12 months has gotten off to a flying begin. The crew went from being twenty first within the 2024 UCI rankings to second, solely positioned behind Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad after two months of racing in 2025.
However, the crew nonetheless have a protracted technique to go within the three-year rankings after dismal factors hauls in 2023 and 2024. They are nonetheless in twenty first place within the 2023-2025 rankings as of February 24, with a deficit of three,397.91 factors on 18th positioned Cofidis. That margin is down from 4,719.57 factors on the finish of final season.
While XDS Astana have closed the hole to Cofidis, and the opposite two groups simply forward of them – Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Uno-X Mobility – that leaves Seventeenth-placed Picnic-PostNL solely one other 218.58 factors forward of the 18th spot, and also will be below strain to achieve factors to keep away from relegation.
Team supervisor Dario Cataldo instructed Wielerflits this week that the crew has been engaged on filling efficiency gaps since final 12 months after they focussed on delivering Mark Cavendish to a report variety of stage wins within the Tour de France.
“It just isn’t all the time simple to place your finger on what precisely was lacking and the way you fill these gaps,” Cataldo stated. “Moreover, you can’t obtain one thing like that in two days. It is a mixture of excellent riders, good workers members and good materials that ensures a motivated group. The good outcomes are the end result when all these pillars come collectively.”
The crew has benefitted from performances resembling Christian Scaroni’s total win within the Tour des Alpes and Classic Var in addition to his different podium placings. Aaron Gate’s second place within the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race was value 250 factors whereas riders resembling Max Kanter, Clément Champoussin and Matteo Malucelli have a number of high 10’s contributing to their tally.
A mixture of a money infusion from the Chinese bicycle maker XDS and a robust listing of recruits coming into the crew for 2025, focussed not on Grand Tour total finishes however a greater variety of outcomes.
“We opted for riders who’ve confirmed that they are often constant all through the season,” Cataldo stated. “You even have superb riders who can solely peak in a number of races per season, however we ignored them.
“Then you’ve got an excellent chief for the classification within the Tour de France, for instance. But that may be a tough objective to attain, and with these guys you miss a big a part of the remainder of the season. We all have guys who can rating a number of factors in all one-day races and quick stage races. They know what they need to do, we now have a superb core.”
The crew nonetheless imagine they will stay within the WorldTour, he added.
“We nonetheless imagine in that. We not solely have good riders, but in addition made wise selections within the calendar. In any case, there’s a good technique, however it’s primarily targeted on this 12 months.
“If we’re not within the WorldTour subsequent 12 months, is {that a} catastrophe? Aren’t there nonetheless massive groups which are not WorldTeams, however can nonetheless journey all the massive races? Of course you would possibly miss a number of races, however you possibly can proceed to race at a excessive stage.”
