2024, a very complicated year
2024 has been, once again, a very difficult season for Astana-Qazaqstan. Indeed, the team raised their arms only 12 times last season and only five of them were on the European continent. Even worse, the only rider of the Kazakh team who succeeded at the World Tour level in 2024 is Mark Cavendish, who retired at the end of the season. His win on the fifth stage of the Tour de France was one of the rare good moments for Astana-Qazaqstan’s fans this year, along with the win of Alexey Lutsenko on the general classification of the Giro d’Abruzzo, beating Adam Yates and Pavel Sivakov. The former Kazakh Champion also finished in the top 10 of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, posting the best result of the year at a Monument for his team. At the Grand Tours, Lorenzo Fortunato managed to finish around the top 15 at the Giro and La Vuelta while Harold Tejada posted some top 10s on stages due to breakaways.
The arrival of the Italian Champion Alberto Bettiol in the middle of August did not have an immediate effect as the former Ronde van Vlaanderen winner couldn’t play for the win at the Renewi Tour or the Canadian Grand Prixs. Last season, Astana-Qazaqstan was undeniably the weakest team in the top division of cycling, finishing 21st in the UCI ranking, which put them in a very uncomfortable position in their goal of keeping their World Tour license after next season. Indeed, Alexander Vinokurov’s team is now sitting almost 5000 points behind the 18th place, a number that seems irretrievable in only one season.
China as a saviour?
After the performances of Astana-Qazaqstan in the past two seasons, it seemed predestined that the Kazakhs would see their future in the second division of cycling from 2026. However, Alexander Vinokurov’s team still has a tiny hope of keeping their World Tour license, thanks to the arrival of a new Chinese sponsor for the 2025 season. This new huge sponsor named XDS is a giant of bicycle manufacturing and could be the saviour of Astana-Qazaqstan in the future. This new sponsor brought in a lot of money, that allowed the management of the Kazakh team to make very good recruitments during the transfer window, with the objective of coming back from behind in the battle to avoid relegation.
As mentioned earlier, the first rider who joined Astana-Qazaqstan is Alberto Bettiol, who arrived during the season. The Italian champion will be the leader of his new team at the Flanders classics, where he will try to repeat his exploit of 2019 when he triumphed at the Ronde van Vlaanderen for his first win among the professional peloton. To help him, Bettiol should be able to count on Yevgeniy Fedorov, who posted a top 15 at Paris-Roubaix last year, but also on Mike Teunissen who is joining from Intermarché-Wanty.
The most important improvement for Astana-Qazaqstan is on their mountain team, which was historically the strength of the team and this despite the loss of Alexey Lutsenko, who is moving for the first time of his career at 32 years old. Indeed, Lorenzo Fortunato and Harold Tejada will be joined next year by a lot of talented climbers with Sergio Higuita, Fausto Masnada, Nicola Conci, Clément Champoussin and Wout Poels joining the Kazakh team next season. The Colombian Higuita had already triumphed at a World Tour stage race with the Volta a Catalunya 2022 and he will try to give a new start to his career after a 2024 season where he could not take his chance at the World Tour level. Masnada will also try to take his chance as a leader with his new team while Champoussin, Conci and Poels will play more the role of domestique or stage hunters, the Dutchman bringing also all of his experience with him.
Another experienced rider is Diego Ulissi, who is changing team for the first time in his career after fourteen seasons spent with Lampre/UAE Team Emirates. At 35 years old, the native of Cecina has won at least once in every season of his career and will aim to continue this incredible streak with Astana-Qazaqstan.
In addition to these riders, Alexander Vinokurov’s team also recruited riders who performed at races outside of Europe with Matteo Malucelli and the champion of New Zealand Aaron Gate in order to win important UCI points for the team. Finally, the young Alessandro Romele, Florian Kajamini and Darren Van Bekkum will all live their first experience at the professional level as they complete the 2025 roster of the Kazakh team.
Apart from Lutsenko, the biggest losses of Astana-Qazaqstan during this transfer window are the departures of Samuele Battistella to EF Education-EasyPost and, of course, the one of Mark Cavendish. The Manx Missile is saying goodbye to cycling at 39 years old after a last win at the Tour de France to beat Eddy Merckx’s record.
Overall, this interseason has been really busy for Astana-Qazaqstan who will have to fight for their survival in a quest that seems desperate. However, even if the Kazakh team are relegated to ProConti in 2026, Alexander Vinokurov and all his staff can still count on XDS, who signed with the team at least until 2029.
Alberto Bettiol, the right pick?
With the signing of Alberto Bettiol only a few weeks after announcing their new partnership with XDS, Astana-Qazaqstan showed their desire to stay in the race for a World Tour license in 2026. Indeed, at 31 years old, the recent Italian champion just posted the best season of his career with four wins and a top 50 in the UCI classification for the first time in his career.
The native of Poggibonsi, between Florence and Sienna, made a name for himself when he raised his arms to everyone’s surprise at the Ronde van Vlaanderen 2019, his first win and the most prestigious to date. In 2024, with a ninth place on the roads of Flanders and a top five at Milano-Sanremo, the Italian showed that he was still capable of shining in the biggest races in the world, motivating the choice of Alexander Vinokurov’s staff. His first few races with his new team were not amazing but he still brought UCI points at the Renewi Tour with a top 10 in the general classification. For 2025, Alberto Bettiol will be one of the main keys for Astana-Qazaqstan to come back into the World Tour race.
If the Italian manages to perform throughout the season, he could bring very important UCI points for the Kazakh team who desperately need them. Even if it seems complicated to see Bettiol fighting for the win with Mathieu van der Poel or Wout Van Aert during the spring Classics, the former Giro stage winner is capable of recording great results at his favourite races, but also at some stage races as a stage hunter.
Big bets for the mountains
Historically, Astana-Qazaqstan have been a team with a lot of climbing stars, riders that aimed for the general classifications of the Grand Tours such as Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador and Fabio Aru. However, in the past few years, the Kazakh team seems to have stepped down from this level, only fighting for places in the top 10 or stage wins.
Reinforcing this part of the team was one of the biggest aims for Alexander Vinokurov and his staff during the winter, and they managed to bring in a lot of talented climbers. However, none of them could really be considered one of the twenty best climbers in the world at the end of 2024 so it is a risky bet for Astana-Qazaqstan in their quest for UCI points.
First of all, the Colombian Sergio Higuita is arriving from Red Bull-BORA. After a very good 2022 season where he won the Volta a Catalunya but also finished in the top five at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia, in addition to a second place at the Tour de Suisse, high expectations were on the shoulders of the native of Medellin. However, the last two seasons of Higuita were quite deceiving, his best result in 2024 being a third place on the overall classification at the Czech Tour. At 27 years old, the former Colombian champion will try to come back to his former level, both at stage races and in punchy classics. If he does not, Higuita could be a really good domestique for his compatriot Harold Tejada who had a great season in 2024. Indeed, he recorded multiple top 10s on stages of some of the biggest races in the World such as the Tour de France a ndLa Vuelta. The 27-year-old also raised his arms for the first time at the professional level on the second stage of his national tour.
Another rider who will try to give a new start to his career is Fausto Masnada. At 31 years old, the Italian has not raised his arms since the Tour of Oman 2022 and has finished 2024 outside of the top 1000 of the UCI ranking. These results are far from the best level of Masnada, who already finished third at the Tour de Romandie and second at Il Lombardia, in addition to winning a stage of his national Grand Tour. After five seasons with Soudal Quick-Step, the rider of Bergamo will have to prove that he is still capable of shining when the road rises. Fausto Masnada should not be the only Italian to show himself on the mountainous roads next season, as Lorenzo Fortunato will want to confirm his good 2024 season where he finished in the top 16 of two Grand Tours: the Giro and La Vuelta. The former winner on Monte Zoncolan at the Giro also brought home the KOM jersey of the Critérium du Dauphiné and will have at heart the aim of showing his climbing capacities in the final year of his contract with Astana.
New recruits: left, Diego Ulissi, and right, Sergio Higuita (image credits Petar Milošević (left) and Johann Conus (right); both Wikimedia Commons)
Experienced road captains
In their quest for UCI points, Astana-Qazaqstan made the choice of experience in order to maximize their chances of staying in World Tour. Indeed, among the riders who joined the Kazakh team during the inter-season, Wout Poels and Diego Ulissi will have the mission of bringing all their knowledge of the peloton to their new team.
At 37 years old, Wout Poels will maybe be experiencing one of his last seasons among the professional peloton in 2025. The Dutchman, who began his career with Vacansoleil in 2009, is one of the most experienced riders in the peloton and should be a very important piece of Astana’s success next season. Indeed, the native of Venray was a key rider in the dominance of Team Sky from 2015 to 2019, helping Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal to their wins at the Tour de France. In addition to being a great domestique, Poels has also won some very prestigious races during his long career, the biggest of them being Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2016. Even recently, the former Bahrain-Victorious rider has performed really well, managing to win a stage of both the Tour de France and La Vuelta in 2023.
Diego Ulissi is younger than his new Dutch teammate but at 35 years old, his best years are behind him. Nevertheless, the Italian is still among the best riders in the world, especially at smaller races such as the Tour of Austria that he won in 2024. After 15 seasons spent with Lampre/UAE Team Emirates, the former GP Montréal winner is moving for the first time of his career. Since beginning his professional career, Diego Ulissi managed to win at least once every single season and is determined to continue his incredible series with Astana, who will count on him in the World Tour race. Indeed, in addition to being incredibly experienced, Ulissi finished 2024 in the top 50 at the UCI classification, scoring points throughout the season. By signing him, Alexander Vinokurov and his staff will hope that the native of Cecina will be able to bring the necessary points for an unbelievable come-back to avoid relegation.
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