He is very young but speaks like a leader, with conviction and carefully choosing his words, Yancong Tan, the CEO of XDS. His company, founded in 1995 in Guangming and among the top three bicycle manufacturers worldwide with products sold in over 50 countries, has been the main partner and technical supplier of Astana led by Alexandr Vinokurov since this year, a team that has been on a relentless hunt for UCI points to remain among the top 18 teams in the world.

To achieve this, in winter, thanks to the support of the new sponsor, the Kazakh formation operated a massive reinforcement campaign that, in the first four months of 2025, proved to be extremely profitable with 5 victories, 25 podiums, 89 top tens and, the most relevant statistic, 4,984 points collected as of April 7th, a figure that Yancong himself was keen to highlight and publicly applaud.

"What the team is doing is truly impressive. We are returning to the top 18 of the World Tour and with the UCI points we are obtaining, we are getting closer to maintaining our license: this is what we want and what we must do right now," the XDS leader told our microphones. "Once we secure our spot, from next year we will try to focus and win races like the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, and the major classics. Will we try to sign some important riders? Maybe, I can't say anything now. The current roster? I don't have a favorite rider, I like them all."

With these resources, XDS-Astana hopes to close the gap with the teams ahead in the UCI three-year ranking and, in this way, complete a comeback that, for the Chinese bicycle brand, has an importance that, as evident when talking to Yancong Tan, goes beyond the sporting aspect.

"In terms of overall growth, our next step as XDS will be to explore foreign business. We have identified three areas to invest in: Asia, Europe, and America, and in our plans, the next one is Europe, a market where we can maximize the team's exposure."

Remaining in the top world level would therefore represent an important milestone from every point of view for the Asian company, which in the near future will try to make a name for itself in the world of professional cycling, led by a man who has always had bicycles around him.

"I was born in a bicycle company. When I was little, my father always took me to the company with him, and this made me grow up with two wheels around me. Before, I used to ride a bicycle every day, around our company, XDS, which is built near a river: today, that's where I go to pedal when I can."

And like him, pedal after pedal, Astana and XDS will try to launch themselves towards increasingly prestigious goals. But first, there is a present to face with hunger and determination, qualities that the Kazakh team is brilliantly displaying at the Tour of Hainan, where for Yancong Tan, the objective is clear: "Win the race by trying to conquer the general classification and all possible stages."