"I find the change in the team interesting to experience" - Cees Bol as witness to the remarkable transformation of Astana

When Cees Bol joined Astana Qazaqstan Team in 2023, many rubbed their heads while the goal was clear; to build the ultimate sprint train for Mark Cavendish. With the mission accomplished, it was unclear what the future will hold as the team was lacking quality to really compete at WorldTour level. But big investment from Chinese company XDS and suddenly the future is bright again as the team Bol meets for the 2025 winter camp is almost uncomparable to that of the years ago.

Bol is not only experienced among the Dutch, but in the entire team. Of the team he started riding for in 2023, only five riders remain besides Bol. "Wow, I didn't think about that," he admits in a chat with WielerRevue. The other men are Yevgeniy Fedorov, Cristian Scaroni, Gleb Syritsa, Harold Tejada and Simone Velasco. "A nice statistic. Now that there are a lot of Dutch people and they ask how it works in our team, I feel experienced too.",

The team has become quite international in three years. "When I arrived, there was clearly an Italian and Russian table, but that is much less now. The language used is much more often English, and a lot of international team leaders have joined. We have also made progress in the management. I think that was necessary, because a few years ago the team did not make the steps, I think. Now that the staff has more modern ideas, things are really going in the right direction."

Bol says he is more at home at XDS Astana Team than he expected at the end of 2022. "I find the change in the team interesting to experience. The image of the team from outside is a lot different than I sometimes experience. Those Kazakhs also love cycling and you can laugh with them too. I speak a few words of Russian, but it's not worth mentioning."

From this year on, Bol can speak Dutch more often. "That's nice, because it's always easier to express yourself in your own language," says Bol about it. "I've been a teammate with Mike and Ide before. I know Wout too, because I've spoken to him regularly in the peloton. But I also have a good connection with Aaron Gate and it's also nice to sit at the table with him."