Cyclist
Chinese company XDS to invest in Astana Qazaqstan
Chinese company XDS is to invest in the Astana Qazaqstan pro cycling team. In a press release this morning, the team said that XDS, a carbon fibre company based in south-east China, has finalised its negotiations with Astana Qazaqstan.
The future of the Kazakh team has apparently been stabilised by a ‘long-term investment’ deal from the Chinese company, which claims to be one of the biggest carbon fibre manufacturers in the world, boasting yearly revenue of over $100 million (USD).
The new team name is yet to be confirmed, but it will be the first Chinese team on the UCI WorldTour level since the top division of cycling’s inception.
‘The entire project will face some significant changes’
It had been widely reported that Astana Qazaqstan were searching for new sponsors. News emerged at the Giro d’Italia of potential links to Chinese companies, and at the 2024 Tour de France, XDS and Astana team management began negotiations.
‘As a result [of negotiations], mutual understanding was reached, and a decision to cooperate was made,’ Astana said in its first official comment about the matter.
‘I am very happy to be part of this project and look to the future with great enthusiasm,’ says Alexander Vinokourov, the current team director of Astana Qazaqstan. ‘We understand that the team and the entire project as a whole will face some significant changes, but we are ready for this.’
The significant changes will come in the form of a larger budget, a new Chinese identity and some major technical shakeups according to XDS’s CEO and the Astana team staff. News of when these changes will arrive is not currently confirmed, but it is possible that it could begin in 2025.
Long-term investment
There is a clear message that the team’s budget will increase and that XDS has ‘invested’ in the team for a period of at least five years.
‘The draft agreement provides for long-term investment for a period of at least five years and financing at the level of leading WorldTour teams.’ It has been previously speculated that a Chinese-invested Astana team would seek a budget similar to that of cycling’s super-teams such as Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE Team Emirates and Ineos Grenadiers.
‘We have been diligently searching for an investor capable of taking the team to a new level of development,’ Vinokourov states, hinting at the future plans for ‘super-team status’. Astana currently sit deep within the relegation zone of the UCI Rankings and if things don’t improve by the end of 2025, the team could face a demotion to the second-tier of professional cycling.
‘XDS is ready for long-term investment, which, among other things, will include technical partnership with a new bicycle brand,’ Vinokourov confirms.
It is likely that X-Lab, the bike manufacturer within XDS’s business umbrella, will supply the team’s bikes as part of this new deal. X-Lab provided some of the bikes for China’s mountain biking squad at the last Olympic Games.
‘We will make sure the team has very enough budget’
In response to the news, the CEO of XDS Yancong Tan expressed his satisfaction with the new deal, ‘Since 2022, we started seeking for the opportunity to get involved in the WorldTour,’ he said. ‘It was very lucky that we met Astana Qazaqstan Team this year in the Shanghai show. During discussions, we were sure that Astana was the team we wanted.’
‘For the following seasons, XDS will be the strongest backup for the team. We will make sure the team has very enough budget and the best technical support.’
What is XDS?
XDS stems from the brand’s original name Xidesheng. Through the years, this has evolved into XDS and XDS Carbon Tech. The company is based in Shenzen, a city in southeast China close to the border with Hong Kong. According to the site that stocks XDS’s bikes, the company was founded in 1995.
It is one of the largest carbon fibre manufacturers of its kind in the world. The website, which hasn’t been updated since 2021, claims that its ‘export earnings will reach more than 100 million US dollars in 2020’. In a forecast from 2021, the company claims that it will become ‘the world’s largest carbon fibre bicycle manufacturer in 2022’.
‘XDS owns one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, with an annual production capacity of 10 million units’, according to the Astana announcement. ‘It is the first professional manufacturer in mainland China that integrates design, research and development, production, and sales of cycling products,’ it continues. Regardless, the partnership with Astana Qazaqstan will no doubt help elevate the XDS brand outside of the Asia-Pacific market.
The new Chinese-Kazakh collaboration may also spell the end of the team’s Astana moniker, which has used since 2006.
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