"We’ve got a Serie A and a Serie B in WorldTour" - Astana DS knows the hunt for points won't end with a new season

XDS Astana Team had a massive task ahead of them at the start of this season - to bridge approximately 5.000-point gap in the three-year UCI ranking and save themselves in the WorldTour category for the 2026-2028 cycle. But the Kazakh team backed by Chinese company XDS did unthinkable and even leapfrogged all the way to 16th spot in the ranking. Since June, their rapid progression through the rankings slowed down, but Astana has nevertheless proven that the team is far from done.

"We knew it would be difficult, but it was twist or stick," sports director Alexandr Shefer told Domestique. "We had to do something."

And so, Astana, boosted by financial support from their new Chinese co-sponsor XDS, they entered the transfer market in search of a miracle. And through several tactical signings, they achieved nothing short of the miracle the sought after. "We strengthened the team compared to previous years with points in mind," Shefer explained.

Part of their success came thanks to difficult tactical decisions such as sending top leaders to smaller races instead of a suiting high-profile schedule. But the payout has been massive. One example for all would be the 24-year-old Ecuadorian climber Harold Martín López who has podiumed four stage races at the 2.1 and 2.Pro level, scoring 600 UCI points pretty "easily" without having to compete against the likes of Tadej Pogacar.

"Many times, we sent our strongest riders to smaller races rather than to WorldTour races. We’ve had strong teams at races like Turkey, Hainan and so on, because we know there are a lot of points of offer there. And with the team we have right now and the level generally, we can maybe be more confident of a big result there than in a WorldTour race."

It's been a completely new Astana. Over the last decade the Kazakh team always belonged to the top tier of cycling, winning multiple Grand Tours and Monuments thanks to the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Aru and Jakob Fuglsang. But in 2025, those ambitions were unrealistic.

"It was different to what we did in previous years because we had never raced in search of points before. Unfortunately, we got to a point where, in order to save ourselves, we needed to start getting placings from two or three riders rather than racing to win. It’s not ideal, but in this moment our aim is to save ourselves."

"All the riders are well aware that it would be easier to score points in smaller races than in the WorldTour," Shefer said. "In WorldTour races these days, especially the bigger races, it’s very hard because it’s a very high level. And when certain big riders are in the field, you already know you’re racing for fifth place at best, and that’s if everything goes well. Whereas in the smaller races, you can get better results."

The team strength also became apparent at Grand Tours, where Astana had to face the world's best and, at times, simply didn't have the level to compete. At Giro, their attacking racing style was rewarded with a stage victory of Christian Scaroni and Mountain classification won by Lorenzo Fortuntato, but Tour de France didn't go as well:

"At the Tour, we brought a solid team with some good riders, but a lot of them didn’t have great condition, and the general level was really high," Shefer exaplained. "We hoped for a bit more, but if you’re not at 100% there, it’s very difficult to come away with a result."

"But now we’ll see what the rest of the season brings and if we can collect more points. Because we’re not really talking about wins anymore, now it’s all about points. We’re only thinking about points, and the whole team is united behind that idea. We sit down every week and tally how many points we’ve scored, and we also look at our rivals."

Astana is now virtually safely in WorldTour, but there's no time to rest. In 2026, the UCI point battle will start anew with another three-year cycle and Astana will need to keep the momentum going to not end up in the same situation as at the end of 2024.

"For the smaller teams, it will be like this even next year," Shefer said. "If you don’t have one of the biggest riders and if you’re not certain that you won’t have worries about relegation, then you’re going to have to keep this philosophy to get points to save yourself."

"In the WorldTour these days, we’ve got a Serie A and a Serie B. You have the top five teams in the world who have all the biggest champions. And then you’ve got the rest who are fighting for points," he concludes.