Astana make key move to save itself from World Tour relegation by bringing in six-time British national champion

The 2025 season will be decisive for many teams. One of them is the Astana Qazaqstan Team, which is right in the mix for relegation from the World Tour in the last year of the current cycle.

The Kazakh team is aware of the magnitude of the year ahead for them. For that reason they have shelled out a huge amount of money in the Cycling Market, signing names like Alberto Bettiol, Clement Champoussin, Sergio Higuita, Wout Poels, Mike Teunissen and Diego Ulissi.

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So far, Astana has made 12 new rider signings, a real madness. However, their most important move has just been made, and it will be made official in the next few days, as journalist Daniel Benson announces. "We can exclusively reveal that Alex Dowsett has joined Astana Qazaqstan Team full-time as the team's Performance Engineer, having already assisted the team at various points during the year. This is a new position created specifically for Dowsett's expertise," reveals Benson.

The British ex-pro retired in 2022 with 6 national time trial titles. Also, among other achievements, he has 2 stage victories in the Giro d'Italia. According to Daniel Benson, within the peloton "he is considered one of the most highly trained professionals" in the field of aerodynamics and marginal technological advances.

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The official announcement, a matter of days

The official announcement of Alex Dowsett joining the Astana Qazaqstan Team, in the team's new position of Performance Engineer, is likely to be released sometime later on in this week.

Astana is very serious. Although right now it seems very difficult for the team to achieve salvation, with such a big investment as it has had in recent weeks, and with the exciting arrival of Alex Dowsett, the Kazakh team hopes to make the most of all its signings to work the miracle in 2025.