Christian Scaroni is XDS Astana’s top points scorer over the first two months of 2025, show here winning stage 1 win at Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var The XDS Astana team’s push to gain enough points to remain in the WorldTour at the end of the three-year promotion/relegation cycle this year has gotten off to a flying start. The team went from being 21st in the 2024 UCI rankings to second, only placed behind Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad after two months of racing in 2025.
However, the team still have a long way to go in the three-year rankings after dismal points hauls in 2023 and 2024. They are still in 21st place in the 2023-2025 rankings as of February 24, with a deficit of 3,397.91 points on 18th placed Cofidis. That margin is down from 4,719.57 points at the end of last season.
While XDS Astana have closed the gap to Cofidis, and the other two teams just ahead of them – Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Uno-X Mobility – that leaves 17th-placed Picnic-PostNL only another 218.58 points ahead of the 18th spot, and will also be under pressure to gain points to avoid relegation.
Team manager Dario Cataldo told Wielerflits this week that the team has been working on filling performance gaps since last year when they focussed on delivering Mark Cavendish to a record number of stage wins in the Tour de France .
"It is not always easy to put your finger on what exactly was missing […]
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