Astana Qazaqstan Team may become Chinese by 2025 now that the cycling team has signed an agreement with XDS Carbon-Tech, a prominent bicycle producer in China. According to some media outlets, the Astana Qazaqstan Team will probably be registered as a Chinese team in WorldTour.
As Cyclingnews pointed out, the Astana Qazaqstan Team finished the 111th edition of Tour de France with quite ambivalent results. On the one hand, the team was last in the team classification. On the other hand, it signed an engagement agreement with XDS Carbon-Tech, which may lead to the inflow of investments necessary to reach the top positions in international cycling. XDS Carbon-Tech’s intention, for example, is to cooperate with the team for a period of five to ten years. The cycling team will probably be registered in China.
Astana Qazaqstan Team needs funding to preserve its status in WorldTour. The company is going to create a ‘super team’ with a budget comparable to the leaders of the best world tournaments – UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease A Bike. Alexander Vinokurov will continue to work as general manager to ensure that the team is strong as contracts with 18 riders out of 29 are expiring, Cyclingnews reported.
Kaden Groves from Australia may become the first new cyclist to join the Astana Qazaqstan Team. Furthermore, the team is going to break its contract with Wilier Triestina and switch to X-Lab AD9 bicycles from XDS.
The media reported negotiations between the Chinese producer and the Kazakhstani cycling team on July 15. The press service of the Astana Qazaqstan Team explained that XDS Carbon-Tech is ready to allocate serious funds as investments in the club this fall.
XDS is the largest bicycle producer in China, making its owner Tan Weilong one of the richest people in the country.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports along with the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation refused to comment on the deal, citing a lack of information about the negotiation between XDS and the team.
In turn, Cyclingnews reported that the deal is going to be finalized after the Olympic Games in Paris.
As Kursiv.media wrote earlier this month, Mark Cavendish, a member of the Astana Qazaqstan Team won stage 5 of the Tour de France, marking his 35th win in a row and beating a 50-year record.
General manager and Olympic Champion Vinokurov sent his congrats to Cavendish:
«This is a huge success for our team, a historical achievement that will be written in the history of cycling forever. Many people doubted that we would achieve success and that Mark’s engagement in the Astana Qazaqstan Team would make a difference. But we did believe and we have done everything necessary to make this win happen. I know for sure that true champions shouldn’t stop their careers after a fall and injury and I am happy that Mark opted to take part in one more season,» he said.
In 2021, Vinokurov was fired from Astana – PremierTech, where he was a general manager, just several days before the start of the Tour de France. Later, he became the head of the Astana Qazaqstan Team.
