CyclingUpToDate Rating 2023 | Astana Qazaqstan Team: 2.44

Astana Qazaqstan Team were the lowest-scoring World Tour squad in 2023. Mark Cavendish took it's single World Tour win at the Giro d'Italia, but it was a team that struggled to get many results.

UCI ranking 2023: 7047 (20th)

Victories (World Tour): 16 (1)

Top riders in UCI rankings: Alexey Lutsenko (46th)

Rúben Silva (CyclingUpToDate): 3. It was saved. Astana is a difficult one to talk about because the expectations were low and they were the lowest-scoring team in the UCI rankings this year at World Tour level - despite scoring huge points at continental championships. The season started off horribly, but then from April onwards it caught some traction. Although none at World Tour level, Alexey Lutsenko did win the Giro di Sicilia, Tour of Turkey, Circuito de Getxo and Memorial Marco Pantani besides the nationals. He found good form but above all the team was smart and his success is due to good calendar choice. Mark Cavendish was the headliner, he won a stage at the Giro and that was a very popular one. I reckon he had the chance - although slim - to win at the Tour but in the results sheet his Giro win is the only significant result from the season. Simone Velasco and Christian Scaroni were positive surprises from the season and also scored some nice points, these are the positive aspects from a season that leaves the team in a difficult mission to continue at World Tour level.

Kieran Wood (CyclingUpToDate): 3. Not a year packed full of highlights, Astana did have their moments, such as Mark Cavendish’s win on the final stage of the Giro d’Italia and Alexey Lutsenko’s performance at the Tour of Turkey where he won stage 3 atop the truly brutal Badabag climb before securing overall victory. Ultimately though, it was a disappointing year for the team with plenty to improve upon next season.

Ondřej Zhasil (CyclingUpToDate): 2. Astana claims that they had a good year, achieving a grand slam at the Asian events, but the fact is, that they end the season with 2000 points gap to keep the WT license in 2026. Highlight of their season had been the signing of Mark Cavendish who secured the team's only big international victory at the Giro d'Italia.

Juan Larra (CiclismoAlDia): 1. Despite Mark Cavendish's partial victory in the Giro d'Italia, Astana's season deserves a resounding failure. The sporting planning of the season cannot be based on a 38 year old cyclist. His withdrawal from the Tour de France left them KO'd for the rest of the year. The drop in performance of Alexey Lutsenko, the team's other great asset, has also hurt them a lot in a 2023 to forget.

Jorge Borreguero (CiclismoAlDia): 2.5. Astana's bad year can be summed up in Mark Cavendish's crash in the Tour de France that deprived him of competing in the remainder of the race and losing the opportunity to achieve the record of stage victories. Precisely, Cavendish himself has, in the final stage of the Giro d'Italia, the most outstanding victory for a team that should aspire to much more in the future.

Victor Gonzalez (CiclismoAlDia): 3. Some good results from Alexey Lutsenko, also from Mark Cavendish, and a top 5 in Montreal for Simone Velasco but little else. A very poor season for Astana.

Filipe Pereira (CiclismoAtual): 3. Astana Qazaqstan Team had 1 WT level win trough Cavendish's sprint at the Giro's final stage. Other than that, Alexey Lutsenko did a pretty good season, racking up some minor but important wins for a team that is clinging on to a WorldTour spot. A definitely uninspired season from Alexandr Vinokourov's men, but one with a good final strectch, with a gamble on smaller Asian races (and also the Tour of Türkiye) to get some points for a team that has a hard mission ahead of the 2026 new cycle.

Carlos Silva (CiclismoAtual): 2. One year on the road with only one victory in a GT by the Manxman. Poor. The future is dark if they don't change strategies.

Ivan Silva (CiclismoAtual): 2.5. Highlight of the season was Cavendish's stage win at Giro D'Italia finish in Rome (with some help from Geraint Thomas in the mix) and had some top 5 results in Montreal and Amstel Gold Race aswell as a Top 10 in Tour de Suisse.