Anthony Turgis will join XDS Astana Team for the 2027 season after signing a two-year contract with the Kazakh squad.
The 32-year-old Frenchman has agreed a deal covering the 2027 and 2028 seasons, giving XDS Astana another experienced option for the Spring Classics as the team continues to strengthen that part of its roster.
Turgis has spent much of his career building a reputation as one of France’s strongest one-day specialists. He finished second at Milan-San Remo in 2022, was runner-up at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in 2021 and claimed the biggest victory of his career with a Tour de France stage win in 2024.
The transfer was confirmed by XDS Astana Team, with Turgis describing the move as a fresh challenge at a point when he still believes he can improve.
“For me, this is a new challenge in my career, and I believe it will give me new motivation and new goals,” Turgis said.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Thomas MaheuxXDS Astana continue building for the Classics
The signing fits directly into XDS Astana Team’s recent attempt to become more competitive in the major one-day races.
General manager Alexandr Vinokurov said Turgis had been targeted because of both his Classics record and his experience in Grand Tours.
“In recent years, we have been working extensively on the classics,” Vinokurov said. “We have made definite progress, with good results both last year and this season.”
“Anthony is an experienced classics rider, so he can significantly strengthen our team for the spring classics.”
Turgis gives the team a rider who can survive difficult racing without requiring a traditional sprint finish. His best results have come across a wide range of one-day races, from Milan-San Remo to the cobbled Classics, while his Tour de France experience adds another layer of value.
XDS Astana have already shown greater depth in the Classics during 2026, with riders such as Alberto Bettiol, Mike Teunissen and Arjen Livyns giving them several options in races including E3 Saxo Classic.
Turgis should strengthen that group further from next spring.
Turgis still believes there is room to improve
The move comes relatively late in Turgis’ career, but the Frenchman does not see it as a transition towards a secondary role.
Instead, he believes a change of environment can help him find another level.
“I know that the team has been working hard on the classics, and that is important to me,” he said.
“I feel that I can still improve and that together with XDS Astana Team we can achieve significant results both in the spring classics and in other races.”
That ambition is significant.
Turgis has frequently been competitive in major Classics without accumulating the number of victories his consistency might suggest. A new team structure could offer him more support and different tactical opportunities, particularly in races where XDS Astana are prepared to race aggressively rather than wait for a sprint.
Milan-San Remo remains one of Turgis’ defining results
Turgis’ second place at Milan-San Remo in 2022 remains one of the strongest performances of his career.
He survived the decisive racing over the Poggio and finished behind Matej Mohorič, confirming that his strengths extended well beyond the French calendar.
That result followed second place at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne the previous season and helped establish Turgis as a genuine contender across several different types of Classics.
His profile has always sat somewhere between a puncheur, rouleur and fast finisher.
That versatility makes him especially useful in races where teams need several tactical options rather than one protected leader.
Tour de France stage victory delivered his biggest win
The defining victory of Turgis’ career came at the 2024 Tour de France.
He won Stage 9 around Troyes after surviving a difficult day containing 33 kilometres of gravel before beating Tom Pidcock and Derek Gee from the breakaway sprint.
ProCyclingUK covered Turgis’ victory in Troyes, a result that ended a long wait for another major win and confirmed his ability to convert difficult breakaway opportunities at the highest level.
The victory reinforced one of the qualities XDS Astana will value most.
Turgis can remain competitive deep into difficult races after several hours of attrition, making him useful both as a leader and as a rider capable of joining dangerous breakaways.
That remains relevant at the Tour, where ProCyclingUK identified him among the French riders to watch at the 2026 Tour de France because of his ability to target rolling, windy and breakaway-friendly stages.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Billy CeustersStrong 2026 results show Turgis remains competitive
Turgis has continued producing strong one-day results during the 2026 season.
He finished third at the Grand Prix de Denain, seventh at the Brussels Cycling Classic, eighth at both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Heistse Pijl and ninth at the Muur Classic Geraardsbergen.
Those results have come across several different styles of race.
Grand Prix de Denain rewards positioning and strength over cobbled sectors, while Omloop Het Nieuwsblad provides a broader Classics test through climbs, cobbles and repeated accelerations.
That consistency helps explain why XDS Astana believe he can remain valuable into his mid-30s.
He will be 33 during his first season with the team.
Tour de France experience adds another reason for the signing
Vinokurov also highlighted Turgis’ Grand Tour experience as an important part of the move.
The Frenchman has extensive Tour de France experience and offers XDS Astana another rider capable of contributing without necessarily requiring full leadership.
“For us he can be a very valuable addition for the biggest race of the season,” Vinokurov said.
That could mean several different roles.
Turgis can work for a leader on flatter and transitional stages, protect position through difficult terrain or chase his own opportunities from breakaways.
His French nationality also gives the team another rider with obvious relevance during the Tour, particularly on stages suited to long-range moves and difficult reduced finishes.
A fresh start after a long period in French cycling
The move to XDS Astana represents a significant change for Turgis.
Much of his professional career has been spent within French structures, and joining XDS Astana gives him a more international environment at a point when he believes he still has major results left to chase.
“XDS Astana Team is a serious project with a great history and an international roster of riders,” he said.
“For me, this is a new challenge in my career.”
That change may prove particularly useful in the Classics, where team depth and tactical freedom can have as much influence as individual strength.
Turgis does not need to become the outright leader in every major one-day race to make the signing successful.
If he can continue producing top-10 results while helping XDS Astana place several riders into decisive selections, his experience should strengthen a team that has increasingly prioritised the spring.
Turgis becomes another significant 2027 transfer
The deal adds another established name to a rapidly developing 2027 men’s transfer market.
Several WorldTour teams have already begun reshaping their squads for next season, with moves affecting sprinters, Grand Tour riders and Classics specialists across the peloton.
ProCyclingUK’s men’s cycling transfers hub is tracking the confirmed moves, contract extensions, retirements and departures as the 2027 rosters take shape.
For Turgis, the move provides a fresh environment and a team explicitly targeting the races that suit him best.
For XDS Astana, it adds another reliable Classics rider with a Monument podium and Tour de France stage victory already on his palmarès, but who still believes there is more to come.
