Vinokourov details how XDS-Astana’s revival took shape: "We haven’t even seen the full potential of this team yet"

It is now clear for all to see that XDS-Astana is enjoying an exceptional season. The Kazakh squad has already racked up an impressive 18 victories this year and is well on course to secure a new WorldTour licence for the 2026-2028 cycle. How the team has managed this turnaround is something Alexandre Vinokourov is happy to explain in detail on Bistrot Vélo but not before first reflecting on the team’s recent Giro d’Italia campaign.

"It was hard to do any better than that," Vinokourov said proudly, looking back on XDS-Astana’s Giro d’Italia campaign. "We took a stage win and the mountains jersey. That was exactly the goal we had set beforehand. We were not aiming for a high GC position but rather to win as many stages as possible and to collect as many points as we could. I think we scored around 1,450 points at this Giro, so that is not bad at all." With that, XDS-Astana further solidified its safe 17th place in the UCI rankings.

The team’s standout moment came on stage 16. Christian Scaroni and Lorenzo Fortunato rode together to the summit of San Valentino, with Fortunato ultimately gifting the win to his teammate. "That decision did not come from management," Vinokourov clarified. "We told them it didn’t matter to us who took the victory. Personally, I would have preferred Scaroni, since he still has another year on his contract," Vinokourov added with a laugh.

In the end, the riders made the decision among themselves, out of mutual respect. "From the team car, we said they were free to decide between themselves. From what I understand, Scaroni had told Fortunato earlier in the stage that he would help him collect as many KOM points as possible, and if there was a chance to win the stage, it would be his. I actually think Fortunato was the stronger rider that day, but it was a beautiful moment for the team."

So after a successful Giro, the obvious question is whether XDS-Astana will adopt the same tactics for the Tour de France. "I think so," Vinokourov said. "We do not really have a rider who can contend for better than a top ten in the GC, so again we will be targeting the polka dot jersey." That is not an approach the team boss was known for in his own racing career, but given the circumstances, it is the most logical path. "This year we really had to focus on points because last year we were mainly targeting wins with Mark Cavendish. Our sponsor, XDS, is very keen to stay in the WorldTour, that is very important for them. And now we can see that anything is possible. We have already taken 17 wins this season and we are only halfway through the year."

Still, the team is looking towards the future with the idea of signing a rider capable of contending for the GC. "That is definitely a goal for next year. Once we are secured in the WorldTour for the next three-year cycle, we will certainly look to bring in a rider who can race for the overall." Easier said than done, however. "There are not many of those riders available, but that is the next step for us. At least to be able to fight for the overall in a Grand Tour next year. Of course, with Tadej Pogačar in the peloton… but as we saw at this Giro, anything can happen," Vinokourov concluded.

Securing the WorldTour licence was the team’s primary objective, and so far, that mission is going very well. To help achieve this, XDS-Astana has adopted a new strategy this season. "We hired someone specifically to calculate points," Vinokourov explained. "We analysed the stats from the past three years to see where the competition is strongest. Take the Volta ao Algarve, for example. It is a 2.Pro race, but the level of competition there is incredibly high. So we decided not to go, because it is difficult to score many points in that race."

"That is why we chose to go to China instead, to races like the Tour of Hainan and the Tour of Qinghai Lake in July. That is also important for our sponsors," the Kazakh continued. He also pointed out that the team has not yet been racing at full strength. "We have not even seen all of our riders at their best yet. Sergio Higuita crashed in February and has been ill. Alberto Bettiol was also sick earlier this year, so we are counting on him to deliver in the second half of the season."