The days of Mark Cavendish’s great sprint victories are over – but the well-balanced team is among the top ten in the world rankings.
The squad of the Kazakh World Tour team may not feature any stars or big names – but perhaps that is also one of the team’s strengths; after all, they were ranked sixth in the world team rankings ahead of the start of the Tour de France. After a brief period of focusing on supporting champion sprinter Mark Cavendish – who, whilst wearing the Astana jersey, broke the Tour record with 35 stage wins – the team is once again proving itself to be a diligent points-scorer across the racing calendar, with 16 wins this season leading up to the start of the Tour de France. New signing and climbing specialist Guillermo Thomas Silva, in particular, has slotted into the team successfully, most recently with a stage win at the Giro, where veterans Davide Ballerini and Alberto Bettiol also secured stage victories. Max Kanter, the only German professional in the squad, also contributed to the team’s success with a stage win at Paris–Nice. With this balance, the team will be a tough nut to crack in the Tour as well.
- Team status World Tour
- Team abbreviations XAT
- Licensed in Kazakhstan
- Sponsors Kazakh Sovereign Wealth Fund, XDS (bicycle manufacturer)
- Wheels supplier XDS
- Components Shimano
- Balance bikes Vision
- Clothing Ekoi
- Website https://xds-astana.com
- Instagram xds_astana_team
Management
Alexander Vinokourov (General Manager), Alexandr Shefer (Sports Director), Alexandr Shushemoin, Bruno Cenghialta, Claudio Cucinotta, Dario Cataldo, Dimitri Sedoun, Dmitriy Fofonov, Helmut Dollinger, Laurenzo Lapage, Mario Manzoni, Peter Kennaugh, Serguei Yakovlev, Stefano Zanini, Yvon Ledanois
Team
Alberto Bettiol (ITA)
Born: 29 October 1993
Height: 1.80 m
Weight: 69 kg
Turned professional: 2014
Tour starts: 6
Clément Champoussin (FRA)
Born: 29 May 1898
Height: 1.80 m
Weight: 61 kg
Turned professional: 2020
Tour starts: 3
Nicola Conci (ITA)
Born: 5 January 1997
Height: 1.85 m
Weight: 68 kg
Turned professional: 2018
Tour starts: 0
Yevgeniy Fedorov (KAZ)
Born: 6 February 2000
Height: 1.93 m
Weight: 80 kg
Turned professional: 2021
Tour starts: 3
Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA)
Born: 9 May 1996
Height: 1.70 m
Weight: 57 kg
Turned professional: 2019
Tour starts: 0
Aaron Gate (NZL)
Born: 26 November 1990
Height: 1.81 m
Weight: 71 kg
Turned professional: 2017
Tour starts: 0
Lev Gonov (RUS)
Born: 6 January 2000
Height: 1.86 m
Weight: 76 kg
Turned professional in: 2026
Tour starts: 0
Sergio Higuita (COL)
Born: 1 August 1997
Height: 1.66 m
Weight: 57 kg
Turned professional: 2017
Tour starts: 3
Florian Samuel Kajamini (ITA)
Born: 28 February 2003
Turned professional: 2025
Tour appearances: 0
Max Kanter (GER)
Born: 22 October 1997
Height: 1.76 m
Weight: 68 kg
Turned professional: 2019
Tour starts: 0
Anton Kuzmin (KAZ)
Born: 20 November 1996
Height: 1.86 m
Weight: 66 kg
Turned professional: 2020
Tour starts: 0
Arjen Livyns (BEL)
Born: 1 September 1994
Height: 1.70 m
Weight: 58 kg
Turned professional: 2018
Tour starts: 0
Harold Martín López (ECU)
Born: 3 December 2000
Height: 1.60 m
Weight: 55 kg
Turned professional in: 2024
Tour starts: 0
Matteo Malucelli (ITA)
Born: 20 October 1993
Height: 1.71 m
Weight: 68 kg
Turned professional: 2017
Tour starts: 0
Henok Mulubrhan (ERI)
Born: 11 November 1999
Height: 1.76 m
Weight: 60 kg
Turned professional in: 2022
Tour starts: 0
Cristián Rodríguez (ESP)
Born: 3 March 1995
Height: 1.78 m
Weight: 59 kg
Turned professional: 2016
Tour starts: 3
Alessandro Romele (ITA)
Born: 30 August 2003
Height: 1.86 m
Weight: 71 kg
Turned professional in: 2025
Tour starts: 0
Christian Scaroni (ITA)
Born: 16 October 1997
Height: 1.75 m
Weight: 63 kg
Turned professional: 2020
Tour starts: 0
Marco Schrettl (AUT)
Born: 11 September 2003
Height: 1.81 m
Weight: 63 kg
Turned professional in: 2026
Tour starts: 0
Guillermo Thomas Silva (URU)
Born: 30 December 2001
Height: 1.75 m
Weight: 64 kg
Turned professional: 2024
Tour starts: 0
Haoyu Su (CHN)
Born: 26 October 2000
Height: 1.79 m
Weight: 64 kg
Turned professional in: 2025
Tour starts: 0
Gleb Syritsa (RUS)
Born: 14 April 2000
Height: 1.90 m
Weight: 85 kg
Turned professional: 2023
Tour starts: 0
Harold Tejada (COL)
Born: 27 April 1997
Height: 1.80 m
Weight: 63 kg
Turned professional in: 2020
Tour starts: 4
Mike Teunissen (NED)
Born: 25 August 1992
Height: 1.84 m
Weight: 73 kg
Turned professional: 2015
Tour starts: 6
Davide Toneatti (ITA)
Born: 9 April 2001
Height: 1.80 m
Weight: 65 kg
Turned professional in: 2025
Tour starts: 0
Diego Ulissi (ITA)
Born: 15 July 1989
Height: 1.75 m
Weight: 63 kg
Turned professional: 2010
Tour starts: 1
Darren van Bekkum (NED)
Born: 20 March 2002
Height: 1.76 m
Weight: 62 kg
Turned professional in: 2025
Tour starts: 0
Simone Velasco (ITA)
Born: 2 December 1995
Height: 1.70 m
Weight: 59 kg
Turned professional: 2016
Tour starts: 2
Nicolas Vinokourov (KAZ)
Born: 7 July 2002
Height: 1.84 m
Weight: 65 kg
Turned professional in: 2024
Tour starts: 0
Thomas Musch
Publisher
