Tommaso Dati will step up to the WorldTour with XDS Astana Team in 2027 after signing a two-year contract through the end of 2028.
The 24-year-old Italian joins from Team UKYO after a breakthrough 2026 season in which he established himself as one of the strongest riders outside the WorldTour. Dati has combined sprint speed with the ability to survive harder terrain, collecting wins in Europe and Asia while repeatedly finishing alongside WorldTour opposition.
His move had been expected for several months after XDS Astana emerged as the leading destination during the summer, but the team have now confirmed that Dati will join their WorldTour roster from next season.
Dati’s 2026 season forced the WorldTour to take notice
Dati’s year changed direction at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, where he took a stage victory in March. A month later he produced the result that pushed his name much further into view, beating Tom Pidcock in the opening stage of the Tour of the Alps in Innsbruck.
He followed that with a strong summer that included second place behind Jonathan Milan in the Italian road championships, gold in the Mediterranean Games road race and further victories with Team UKYO. By early September he had reached eight wins for the season, including three stages at the Tour of Japan and success at the Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The consistency has been as important as the win count. Dati has spent much of the season near the top of the Coppa Italia delle Regioni standings and has shown that his results are not confined to one type of race.
XDS Astana continue to strengthen their 2027 Italian core
Dati becomes another Italian addition to an XDS Astana squad that has continued to reshape its 2027 roster. The team have already confirmed Andrea Bagioli on a two-year contract from Lidl-Trek, while several of the team’s established Italian riders are also under contract for next season.
For Dati, the move completes a less direct route to the WorldTour. He spent 2024 and 2025 with Biesse-Carrera-Premac, including a spell as a stagiaire with Cofidis, before joining Team UKYO for 2026. Rather than moving straight through a development structure, he has used a full Continental programme to build the results needed to earn a top-level contract.
That route has worked particularly well this season. Dati has been able to race for victories regularly rather than immediately taking on a support role, and the results have given XDS Astana a clearer picture of where he can fit at WorldTour level.
What Dati could offer XDS Astana
Dati is not a pure sprinter, despite the finishing speed that has delivered several of his 2026 wins. His Tour of the Alps victory came after a selective stage, while his wider season suggests he is most useful in reduced sprints, rolling one-day races and stages where harder terrain removes the fastest specialists.
That profile should give XDS Astana flexibility rather than forcing an immediate decision over whether he is a sprinter or Classics rider. The first objective will be to see how much of his 2026 finishing speed survives the step up in race level and how he adapts to a more demanding WorldTour calendar.
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The team have already shown a willingness to give developing riders space to progress. Alessandro Romele, another young Italian in the squad, has moved from the development structure into the WorldTour and established himself as a regular sprint option. Dati now arrives by a different route but with a similarly broad range of possibilities.
His 2027 season will be his first full campaign at WorldTour level, but after the results he has produced in 2026, the move no longer looks like a speculative step. Dati has earned it through a season in which he has repeatedly beaten riders already established at the top level.
