A few days ago at the Tour of Oman, it was a total celebration for Team XDS Astana. At the top of the legendary Green Mountain, everyone gathered around Scaroni, who delivered a true masterpiece in the final stage, the queen stage. Stage victory, points classification, overall victory, and the team also secured two second places thanks to Cristian Rodriguez, along with the best team award.

It was quite evident from the start that they were one of the most well-equipped teams, and the goal was to win, but as often happens, it's not always easy to fulfill what's on paper. Christian Scaroni arrived in Oman in truly enviable form, with a victory already in his pocket from Spain and the desire to test himself against some prominent names like Adam Yates and Valentin Paret Paintre, who however got a bit lost along the way, also due to a crash in the fourth stage. Before the race, Lorenzo Fortunato had explained the team's plans and especially showed full confidence in his teammate and friend, declaring himself ready to help him. Christian, for his part, always raced with his head, the heat was a real problem, but he never let himself be intimidated, and instead placated and even defeated it.

What stands out about Christian's victory is especially the team aspect, which rallied around the captain, providing him with all possible support. It's almost funny to think that just a handful of days before the start, the rider from Brescia wasn't even on the list of registered riders; it was Lorenzo Fortunato himself who convinced him, spurring him to accept the challenge. "Initially, Christian's calendar was different, and I needed to do races to put kilometers in my legs. After Spain, he called me and asked, 'What do you think if I come to Oman?' I told him he absolutely had to come because I thought it was the perfect race for him. At first, he wasn't very sure, but I'm happy I convinced him, and besides me, he found the support of the entire team. I knew he was in good form, heat has always been his Achilles' heel, but I was convinced he could tame it. I always believed in him, I tried to help him at key moments, and then he did the masterpiece himself." Fortunato tells us he always had full confidence in "Scaro's" abilities and literally put himself at his service.

The entire team supported Scaroni, always present every day to control the situation, but without giving the impression of being cannibals. With the Muscat Classic, we witnessed the general rehearsal; Christian was cut off from Plapp, Schmid, and Yates' attack but signed a good fourth place. The turning point definitely came at Eastern Mountain where some of the favorites were taken out of the race, and the rider from Brescia, arriving second at the finish line, found the necessary grit to aim not just for revenge. The sports directors, team members, but especially Lorenzo Fortunato and Diego Ulissi were the first to believe in him. The Tuscan's role in the team was crucial; he, who is almost a superstar in Oman (having been the last Italian to win a stage), made his experience available, providing more than precious advice. "We always believed in Christian, from the start he was in good form, even if he was a bit worried about the heat. Throughout the week, we were very careful about hydration, which was very important because we were coming from very cold temperatures in Europe, and for this transition, the support of the entire staff was fundamental - on the eve of the last stage, Christian was doing well, and I tried to give him some advice about the Green Mountain climb that I had already done several times. I told him the climb had to be managed very carefully as it was very tough, he should only move in the last kilometer and a half after the flat section and not go into overdrive. It's a climb with very hard gradients, one of the toughest we do during the year, especially because it's hot and we're only in February, but Scaroni was truly impeccable, and I'm very happy."

Scaroni and his XDS Astana's victory is further confirmation that together they are ready to take flight. The fear of relegation faced last year gave the Kazakh team the grit to aim high immediately; it's no coincidence that in one day between Tour of Oman and Asian Championships, they pocketed 1068 points, a crazy figure. The structure remains the same, but, as we told you a few days ago, it was the mentality that underwent a major change, transforming a united and potentially winning group into one that collects results. Ulissi's arrival was crucial, as was his presence in Oman where he leaves another mark. "The team's grade in this race? Definitely a ten - he tells us - everything was crazy, we certainly couldn't have done better."