It’s Wednesday 11th February. The normal early season slate of Middle East racing is about halfway through, with the Tour of Oman coming to its conclusion, and it would be quite the day for XDS-Astana.
At the top of Green Mountain, Christian Scaroni and Cristián Rodríguez would enjoy a 1-2 finish, kicking away from a lead group including serial Oman winner Adam Yates, and hauling them up the general classification to occupy the top two steps on the final podium.
To add to the celebrations, three XDS-Astana riders finished within the top four for their respective countries at the Asian Championships with Yevgeniy Fedoro, Haoyu Su and Nicolas Vinokurov. That provides over 1,000 UCI points in one afternoon. Not a bad trip out – it’s almost the equivalent of winning the Giro d’Italia. Yet while points scoring occupied the team’s thoughts at every moment in 2025 as they fought off the threat of relegation, they have three seasons before that’s a problem again.
In an interview with Wielerflits, director sportif Dmitry Fofonov said they were ‘riding with a completely different mentality’ and that last year’s points chasing was just a ‘one-time plan’.
That means XDS-Astana now have the chance to rediscover their identity. And it’s already proving prosperous.
Not unlike this time last year, Christian Scaroni helps lead the way in hunting victories. Interestingly, the Italian is one of only two Astana riders with a contract through 2028, with most of the team only locked in until the end of this year. Those short-term contracts give the team more flexibility for what the next three years may bring, and maybe that’s why every rider seems to be racing with a point to prove.
Scaroni thrived in breakaways last year, escaping five times at the Giro d’Italia and completing a 1-2 with teammate Lorenzo Fortunato to win Stage 16. The pair would also finish top two in the mountains classification, with Fortunato breezing his way to the top spot of that one. Scaroni also brought a smattering of success in one-day races, winning Classic Var and Giro della Romagna and finishing second at Trofeo Calvià, Trofeo Laigueglia and GP Industria & Artigianato. He’s eyeing bigger fish at the Ardennes this season before returning to the Giro hungry for more.
Like Scaroni, Fortunato will be returning to the Giro after galivanting around Italy at the Trofeo Laigueglia and Tirreno-Adriatico. While he may have entered last year’s Corsa Rosa with the GC in mind, losing time early in the race afforded him a freedom that brought three stage combativity awards, the overall combativity prize and the mountains classification. And he’d bring himself back to 12th place overall. A GC top ten is certainly on the cards in 2026 should he want it.
There is less immediate expectation for Austrian U23 Champion Marco Schrettl. The 22-year-old has only just made the step up to WorldTour level having arrived from Continental squad Tirol-KTM, but given he closed the season with a bronze medal in the U23 World Championship Road Race, the potential is there.
Simone Velasco is one to keep an eye on during the Classics. He rode to an impressive fourth place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2025, leading home the field behind Tadej Pogačar, Giulio Ciccone and Ben Healy. With the team shifting that focus from points to wins this year, daring one-day escapades are certainly on the cards, which could also bear fruit for the likes of Alberto Bettiol, Mike Teunissen and Davide Ballerini.
There are positives signs from Harold Tejada this season too, with the Colombian bursting into life on the UAE Tour’s new Jebel Mobrah climb, finishing in fourth place to move into a fine third on GC. Tejada is coming off a year that saw him notch a fourth place after a breakaway at the Vuelta, where he also went on to finish 12th overall. He’ll surely be a feature in the breaks at the Tour and the Vuelta again this season.
There’s been a little recruitment on the transfer side. The smart signing of climber Cristián Rodríguez from the ashes of Arkéa has got off to a quick start with that result at the Tour of Oman, and he’s certainly capable of a breakaway stage win. There have been positive signs from big sprinter Gleb Syritsa and Russian Road Race Champion Lev Gonov too, who have just been promoted from Astana’s development team.
The new era of XDS-Astana is only in its infancy, but it already looks like they might have a winning formula.
