After brilliant Giro, Astana sticks to same strategy for Tour de France, Dutch sprint train's roles still unclear
CyclingTuesday, 01 July 2025 at 11:43
XDS Astana continues its quest for UCI points in 2025 and a Tour license for the 2026-2028 period, aiming for a Tour de France selection, with stage wins as the primary objective. The Kazakh cycling team has made room for two Dutch riders but should also be able to perform well in the mountains. Is another mountain jersey within reach?
Astana is coming off an extremely successful Giro d'Italia, where, in addition to chasing stage wins, the mountain classification was also a major goal. Lorenzo Fortunato dominated for three weeks and took home the polka dot jersey, along with hundreds of UCI points. Christian Scaroni won a stage, even scoring a 1-2 with Fortunato in a tough mountain stage. In the UCI Team Ranking, XDS Astana has thus moved up from the relegation spot to safety.
In the Tour de France, it is expected to continue with a selection that should be able to hold its own in all areas. There is no real GC rider in the team, but with all the big guns in the peloton, many teams are deliberately not aiming for a top-ten finish. Climbers Clément Champoussin (photo), Sergio Higuita, and Harold Tejada should be able to stand out in the breakaways in the mountain stages. All three also have a strong punch for a hilltop finish.
Simone Velasco and the brand-new Kazakh champion, Yevgeniy Fedorov, are the team's all-rounders, men who can handle hills and are therefore well-suited to many stages. The sprint train is Dutch, with Cees Bol joining Mike Teunissen, who was already announced. Davide Ballerini is also there as an experienced sprinter and lead-out man. No details about the division of roles have been announced in
a press release yet.
Read the full selection below the photo.
Selection XDS Astana - Tour de France 2025
Davide Ballerini
Cees Bol
Clément Champoussin
Yevgeniy Fedorov
Sergio Higuita
Mike Teunissen
Harold Tejada
Simone Velasco
Cees Bol
Clément Champoussin
Yevgeniy Fedorov
Sergio Higuita
Mike Teunissen
Harold Tejada
Simone Velasco
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reemmo004-06-2025 - Well this aged like fine milkGlyn31-05-2025
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