"The entire team should be proud of this achievement" - Aaron Gate secures a surprising second place for XDS Astana in the last race on Australian soil
Cycling
XDS Astana Team continues to perform strongly from the start of this season and today they have scored perhaps their best result yet. After not so good showing at Tour Down Under, they weren't in a position of favourites for the last race in Australia, but Aaron Gate turned predictions upside down to secure an impressive second place at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, winning a sprint against the likes of Laurence Pithie and Corbin Strong.
"The whole team put in a huge effort today to set me up for the best possible position in the finale. Our plan was to be in the lead group and fight for the sprint. My teammates stayed with me the whole time, helping me position well before the circuit and then leading into the climb, so everything went as planned," New Zealand champion Gate said on a team website.
Read also
"It was extremely hot today, which made the race even tougher – many riders struggled in these conditions," he explained as the thermometer showed staggering 41°C at times. "On the final climb, only a few of us were left in the front group when Mauro Schmid attacked. We couldn’t close the gap immediately, and after that, it turned into a tactical battle."
"In the end, Schmid made his move at the right moment and managed to stay away, while Aaron won the sprint from the group behind. I believe this was the best possible result for us today, and the entire team should be proud of this achievement," adds XDS Astana's sports director Mark Renshaw.
Results of the 2025 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race:
| Position | Rider | Team | Time | UCI points |
| 01 | Schmid Mauro | Team Jayco-AlUla | 04:26:07 | 300 |
| 02 | Gate Aaron | XDS Astana Team | + 03 | 250 |
| 03 | Pithie Laurence | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 03 | 215 |
| 04 | Romo Javier | Movistar Team | + 03 | 175 |
| 05 | Bagioli Andrea | Lidl-Trek | + 03 | 120 |
| 06 | Strong Corbin | Israel-Premier Tech | + 03 | 115 |
| 07 | Sheffield Magnus | INEOS Grenadiers | + 03 | 95 |
| 08 | Rochas Rémy | Groupama-FDJ | + 03 | 75 |
| 09 | Onley Oscar | Team Picnic PostNL | + 03 | 60 |
| 10 | Fisher-Black Finn | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 08 | 50 |
Read also

Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment








