Cofidis holds on as XDS Astana's progress stalls in WorldTour relegation watch
Uno-X Mobility lead XDS Astana, Arké🦋a-B&B Hotels in race to make🌄 top 18

Two weeks on from our 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:last relegation watch checkup, XDS Astana's upward momentum in the 2023-2025 UCI Team Rankings has stalled, with the team missing podiums in all of the recent major races. In the first month of the season, the tꦬeam had nearly halved their points gap to the top 18 but have not made up as much ground this month.
Only the top 18 teams in the 2023-2025 UCI Team Rankings will meet the sporting requirement toward a WorldT🧸our licence for the 2026-202🅺8 seasons. Astana have been trailing since the beginning of the current three-year cycle, having finished the 2023 season in 20th andꦆ last year in 21st.
Since the start of the 2025 season, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:XDS Astana have 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:made big gains i꧅n wiping out a 4,720-point gap to 18th-placed C✃ofidis, but the French team have so far held off their challenge.
From January 25 to February 25, XDS Astana gained 1,322 more points than Cofidis, largely thanks to the results of Christian Scaroni. From February 25 to March 25, the Kazakh team earned only 755 more than their French counterparts, with 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Scaroni injured in a crash in Strade Bianch🐬e.
However, their season average points per week still have XDS Astana closing more quickly on the top 1🅰8 than rivals Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Uno-X Mobility. XDS Astana are ranked🔯 second this season behind UAE Team Emirates-XRG while Cofidis are a distant 17th.
Bright spots for XDS Astana in recent weeks include Clément Champoussin's and Harold Tejada's top 10s overall in Paris-Nice, Scaroni's second place in Trof𝄹eo Laigueglia, and a trio of riders in the top 10 at Faun-Ardéche.
The team suffered some ba🍨d luck in recent weeks, with Cees Bol and Sergio Higuita being knocked out of competition with broken bones.
The latest race c🥂ontent,🌺 interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Relegation d🦩ange▨r for Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Picnic-PostNL
The French team Arkéa-B&B Hotels have relied heavily on Kévin Vauquelin for points this season - he's gained a third of their 1,057 points this year. Jenthe Biermans and Raul Garcia Pierna are the next-bes﷽t scorers.
The team's marquee sprinter Arnaud Démare has only scored a couple of stage podiums, and the loss of Champoussin and Vincenzo Albanese in off-season transfers has 𓂃left the 𝐆team weakened.
At 24th in the current season rankings and dropping from 19th to 21st in the three-year rankings, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:൲reported financial worri꧟es for the French outfit have further daꦯrkened their hopes of rem🌟aining in the WorldTour.
168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Picnic-PostNL have been just barely🍷 ahead of Cofidis, finishing 17th in 2023 and 16th laꦑst year. They're way behind in 20th this year and are in danger of being passed by Cofidis in the coming weeks if both teams continue scoring the same.
A 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:v🦄ictory from Nils Eekhoff in Nokere Koerse an꧙d third in the Koksijde Classic helped stall their downward spiral, but the team will have to fight for ever🌄y point to avoid being relegated as they have but 103.58 points over Cofidis as of March 25.
Promotion prospects
Lotto, currently 10th in the three-year rankings, and 🅺Israel-Premier Tech, in 14th, seem to be fairly safe prospects for regaining their WorldTour status after losing out in the first promotion/relegation cycle in 202🍸2.
However, the Belgian team lost a slew of strong riders including Victor Campenaerts, Maxim van Gils and Florian Vermeersch in the transfer season. Worse, their star rider Arnaud De Lie has struggled since taking the team's only 20🅘25 win so far at Etoile de Bessèges in January.
They're way down in 24th place in the 2025 rankings, and while they have a long way to fall to miss out on the WorldTour, a couple of disastrous Grand Tours could hurt. 𝓀However, they'd have to lose almost 8,000 points relative to Cofidis over the next seven months to drop out of the top 18.
Israel-Premier Tech are in a stronger position, having kept most of their core team in the transfers. They're sitting in 16th for the current season and 14th in the three-year rankings 🔯with a buffer of almost 3,500 points over Cofidis.
As of the March 25 rankings, Uno-X Mobility are ahead of XDS Astana and Arkéa-B&B Hotels in the three-year rankings, having closed more ౠof the gap to Cofidis. They sit 𒊎in 19th with a gap of 2,350 points to the French team.
Magnus Cort's sixth places in Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo along with Tobias Halland Johannessen's 11th place in GC and a stage win by Fredrik Dversnes in Tirreno-Adriatico are the most 💞recent boosts to the team's fortunes.
Unforཧtunately for newcomers Tudor Pro Cycling and Q36.5, their relatively w൩eak totals over the 2023 and 2024 seasons will most likely make it impossible for either to reach the WorldTour in 2026. Tudor have 9,487 points to make up and Q36.5 a whopping 11,228.
Any rider except Tadej Pogačar, who scored 11,655 points last year between his Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, three Classic and World Championship victories, would struggle to lift either team to the WorldTour.

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-c✨ross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.
You must confirm your public display name b𝓰efore commenting
Pl🌺ease logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.