Astana Qazaqstan finds itself in a complicated situation, as the margin for retaining its WorldTour license is so large that it is probably impossible to salvage the situation next year. Although it would probably be enough for team boss Alexander Vinokourov to grab one of the automatic wildcards awarded to the best two PRT teams of 2025. Caleb Ewan is likely to play a key role in this.
The mid-season transfer of Alberto Bettiol brings with it tremendous firepower, but that alone may not be enough to defeat the top PRT teams such as Tudor Pro Cycling and Uno-X Mobility. What Astana currently lacks is a strong and reliable sprinter, as that is often the easiest way to score UCI points in races of all kinds.
Earlier in this transfer window, Astana made a generous offer to Kaden Groves, who had doubts about extending his contract at Alpecin-Deceuninck and staying in the shadow of Jasper Philipsen. But surprisingly, the 25-year-old decided to stay. With no other options on the market, coach Alexander Vinokourov had to look for players who might be unhappy with their current place of work.
According to WielerFlits, he seems to have found just that in another Australian – Caleb Ewan. After terminating his contract with Lotto Dstny at the end of 2023, the little rocket made a glorious return to Jayco AlUla, where he began his professional career ten years ago. However, failing to make ends meet in the biggest competitions, Ewan was overshadowed by Dylan Groenewegen, who had won a stage of the Tour this year. Meanwhile, Ewan only scored three times: once in Oman and twice in Spain (Vuelta a Burgos and Vuelta a Castilla y Leon).
There’s just one catch: Ewan is tied to a two-year contract and to join Astana he will need to reach an agreement with his employer. Ultimately, this could prove to be quite a costly transfer for Astana’s new Chinese backers. But then again, what good is a sprint train without a sprinter to finish the job? The pressure is on to find a replacement for Mark Cavendish.
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