The fight for World Tour promotion and relegation is really hotting up. At the start of the year, not many believed that the
XDS Astana Team had a genuine chance to retaining their place amongst the peloton's elite, but an electric start to 2025 has given renewed hope and it's with this momentum that
Alberto Bettiol leads the team into Opening Weekend at
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
“My teammates have had a good start to the season. Now and also next week we can say that the real races are starting, the period of the classics,"
assesses the Italian national champion in a pre-race interview ahead of proceedings getting underway in Belgium this Saturday. "We have trained well, I like the team, we are united and realistic about our possibilities. We are not the favourites today, but in this race, we saw it last year, you never know, it is never over until the finish, so we will fight.“