XDS Astana names a versatile Tour de France team to hunt stage wins on all terrains

XDS Astana has also announced its roster for the 2026 Tour de France. The Kazakhstani team is heading to the start in Barcelona with several strong riders. The eight-man squad once again includes Mike Teunissen, who recently spoke at length about this in an interview with this site.

"It’s a bit of a mixed bag," Teunissen told us in the run-up to the Tour de France. "Especially if I’m actually selected, it’ll be really cool to be there. It’s also great to be part of a team that has a shot at winning a stage." So what was the downside? “In my opinion, the Tour de France has really changed in recent years.”

The Dutchman explained, “These days, there are very few stages that end in a bunch sprint; everything has become so tough. But on the other hand, it’s also a great challenge to go for those stages and hopefully achieve a good result.”

Teunissen will play a key role in Max Kanter’s sprint train; following his stage victory in Paris-Nice, Kanter will be hoping to make his mark in the Tour de France as well. “In the Tour, they sometimes say you can grow into the race, but with the way racing is done these days, you have to be ready right from day one. You have to make sure you don’t lose any time—especially with that team time trial coming up.”

After all, as the Dutchman already knew back then: “We have riders like Harold Tejada, who’s going for the general classification, so as a team we just have to be on our toes right from the start.” In addition to Tejada, XDS Astana has even more strong contenders for the mountain stages in Aaron Gate and Sergio Higuita.

Also on the team: the Italian duo Davide Ballerini and Simone Velasco, while Kazakh rider Nicolas Vinokourov is the eighth and final rider on the roster. A versatile group of eight, then!