Astana Qazaqstan reaches a two-year deal with talented climber from Visma's Development Team

Astana Qazaqstan's activity at the transfer market seems to bear its fruits as they manage to secure another talented U23 rider. The 22-year-old Darren van Bekkum joins the Kazakh team after four seasons at Visma's development team.

Darren van Bekkum's move to WorldTour for 2025 won't be surprising to anyone who has been closely monitoring the U23 action this year. As a highlight, we must mention Van Bekkum's overall triumph at the U23 race Ronde de l'Isard along with an impressive stage win on Plateau-de-Beille. The Dutchman was strong across the board this year with 2nd place at the season-opener Istrian Spring Trophy (2.2).

Besides other strong showings, Van Bekkum also came close to winning the stage 4 at the Tour de l'Avenir, to only get beaten by phenomenon Pablo Torres. However due to a massive time loss earlier in the race, he was employed to work for his teammates on other stages, giving up the general classification.

As is obvious from Van Bekkum's list of palmares, his main domain will be the high mountains - an area where traditional GC powerhouse Astana Qazaqstan has been recently lacking. Joining another new signing - Florian Samuel Kajamini, the two are Astana's hopes to rebuild their once formidable classification squad.

"I’m truly excited and proud to make my WorldTour debut with Astana Qazaqstan Team. After four great years with my current team, Visma | Lease a Bike Development Team, I’m ready for a change, a new environment, and a new approach to working and racing," the Dutch rider said in a press release.

"I always give 100% in both training and racing, and next year I will continue to show everything I’m capable of, day by day, to become stronger and more successful. I hope to become a valuable part of the team on its path to new achievements."