XDS Astana hand a new deal to its Giro d'Italia star following an impressive general classification victory

Guillermo Thomas Silva has only just made a debut in WorldTour this season. But the Uruguayan did not take long to get accustomed to the new environment, immediately setting in with no less than eight victories; including one stage at Giro d'Italia and overall triumphs at Tour of Hainan, and last weekend at the Arctic Race of Norway.

Silva made a professional debut at Caja Rural - Seguros RGA in the 2024 season. However his rapid progress caught the eye of XDS Astana scouts who convinced management to buy out the last year on Silva's contract at the Spanish ProTeam and bring the 24-year-old on board already for the 2026 season.

That bet paid off massively as Silva quickly ascended the ranks of the Kazakh team to become one of its most important assets as he currently brigns 1626 UCI points to the team's tally - second most behind Cristian Scaroni.

Naturally, other teams have come in touch with Silva's agent, exploring options to bring the versatile rider to their ranks beyond 2027 when his standing contract at Astana would run out. But the Kazakh team did not miss the memo and secured Silva's future with a further extension until the end of 2029 season.

The mutual trust is reflected in the - for Astana unusual - contract length as Silva is currently the team's only rider bound through 2029. Only the team leader Scaroni, key Classics rider Mike Teunissen, and young talent Marco Schrettl have a contract even for 2028 at the moment.

"I’m very happy that I will stay with XDS Astana Team for at least another three seasons," Silva said in a contract extension announcement. "From the very first day I felt at home in this team. I’ve felt the support and trust from everyone since I arrived, and I honestly couldn't ask for a better environment to continue my career."

"The most important thing is that the team and I share the same vision of cycling and of how my career should develop. The results I’ve achieved this season are clear proof of that. We have built a fantastic group, and I’m always happy to help my teammates when they are fighting for a result."

"At the same time, I always know that I’ll have their support whenever I need it. That’s the right approach, and our team continues to prove it. Winning the Arctic Race of Norway is a great achievement for both me and the team, but there are still several months left in the season and many goals we want to achieve. So now it's time to keep working," Silva concludes.

"Thomas has made an outstanding start to his WorldTour career with our team. He adapted very quickly, built a great relationship with both his teammates and the staff, and that allowed him to start delivering top results immediately. He had an excellent Giro d'Italia, and afterwards we decided to focus on specific goals for the remainder of the season, without rushing his development and leaving the other Grand Tours for the future," added general manager Alexandr Vinokurov.

Vinokurov emphasizes Silva's importance for the long-term plan at Astana: "This new agreement is designed to strengthen Thomas' position as one of the team's leaders and to allow us to continue working together in the right direction and at the right pace."

Silva had already competed at the Vuelta a Espana in 2025 with Caja Rural and this year, he got a taste of Giro d'Italia. Surely, the Uruguayan will not mind to return to either of those two races, but for the seasons to come, the team plans to introduce Silva to many other aspects of racing.

A big step in Silva's career will be the Ardennes classics, traditionally set in second half of April. In 2026, Silva spent that period winning the Tour of Hainan at the opposite side of planet. With his newly gained status, it's likely that Silva will no longer have these "smaller" appointments in his calendar next year. And who knows, Tour de France debut might be in his cards for 2027 as well.