{"id":498050,"date":"2026-02-25T07:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498050\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T07:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:13:09","slug":"arjen-livyns-dives-in-at-classics-focused-xds-astana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498050\/","title":{"rendered":"Arjen Livyns dives in at Classics-focused XDS Astana"},"content":{"rendered":"

For plenty of riders, the merger between Lotto and Intermarch\u00e9 was a bitter pill to swallow. Some even had to call time on their careers \u2014 but for Arjen Livyns, it opened up a new opportunity. At XDS Astana<\/a> Team, the Belgian has been given a protected role within the Classics<\/a> group, and in conversation with IDLProCycling.com he explains how he plans to tackle the challenge. <\/p>\n

Livyns spent three seasons with Lotto, but moved on when the team merged with Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a running contract with Lotto,\u201d he explains. \u201cFrom the start, it was clear that if something nice came along, I could definitely consider it. After the spring, it was a pretty busy period with contracts and transfers. Keeping everything in mind, we made a decision. But it\u2019s certainly true that the merger helped me make that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, choosing XDS Astana made sense. \u201cEspecially if you look at how they raced last year \u2014 and the huge history of the team. That\u2019s something I look for when I make a transfer, and it\u2019s something I looked for earlier when I joined Lotto: I wanted a strong base, a team that\u2019s been in the cycling world for years. Astana have been at the top for a long time; they know what they have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the move immediately tested his ability to adapt. \u201cI\u2019ve spent my whole career only riding for Belgian and Dutch teams, so the working language was basically my mother tongue. Now I\u2019m in an international team where English is spoken, but also a lot of Italian. And I didn\u2019t know anyone among the riders: I arrived at the first team days and I maybe knew two guys,\u201d he laughs. \u201cThat\u2019s uncomfortable, but on camp it loosens up pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"arjen\u201cA blessing in disguise\u201d for Livyns after De Lie\u2019s spring setback<\/p>\n

At 31, Livyns is no longer one of the youngsters \u2014 but in a way, he is also a late bloomer. In 2025, he felt he reached his best level yet. \u201cSo far I\u2019ve taken a step forward every year. I\u2019m not the biggest talent or a serial winner, but this year I felt strong and the races went the way I wanted them to, especially in the Classics.\u201d<\/p>\n

That turned out to be valuable for Lotto too, because Arnaud De Lie missed a large part of the spring. \u201cWe thought Arnaud was the leader, and my job was to try to help him in the final \u2014 either to a win or a top result. Then Arnaud dropped out, and we had to try and get ourselves into the final with a couple of riders. We grabbed that free role and made the best of it. It was a blessing in disguise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

Livyns is the only one who stays with Pedersen in Gent\u2013WevelgemThe highlight for Livyns came at Gent\u2013Wevelgem<\/a>. After being sharp throughout the spring, he was the only rider still there when Mads Pedersen really opened up. The Lidl-Trek Dane was, understandably, too strong in the end \u2014 but it was a real moment of confirmation for Livyns, who showed he could be there when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had it in my head that from the second time over the Kemmelberg, I wanted to slide up with a small group and get ahead of the peloton,\u201d he says. \u201cOn the Plugstreets (the gravel sectors), I accelerated, and then Pedersen came over the top from my wheel. Kooij and Philipsen literally dropped away, and I was the only one left with him. That was a nice moment \u2014 because it was also the eventual winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the next passage of the Kemmelberg, the former world champion set off on a 56-kilometre solo. Livyns couldn\u2019t follow and eventually finished 42nd. A top result at the Tour of Flanders didn\u2019t materialise either, but with eighth place at Dwars door Vlaanderen and 17th at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, he was often just a step behind the very top finishers.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"mike-teunissen-2\"\/Livyns: \u201cWe won\u2019t wait for Van der Poel or Poga\u010dar\u201dThat approach could be especially valuable at XDS Astana. \u201cWe don\u2019t have one outspoken leader, so we\u2019re not going to wait for a Van der Poel or Poga\u010dar,\u201d says the Belgian, who joins <\/a>a Classics group featuring Mike Teunissen, Alberto Bettiol and Davide Ballerini, among others. \u201cThe key is to get as many guys as possible into the groups that are just ahead \u2014 or, later on, just behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Alexandre Vinokourov\u2019s team collected strong results by racing smart and aggressively, and that requires depth. \u201cThe more, the better, because then you can play more cards. It gives a feeling of strength \u2014 of having the upper hand. They\u2019re all solid guys who\u2019ve proven they can get results in the Classics. I don\u2019t think it will be a disadvantage for me at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For plenty of riders, the merger between Lotto and Intermarch\u00e9 was a bitter pill to swallow. Some even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,33043,635,133917,82,199454],"class_list":["post-498050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-classics","tag-cycling","tag-idl-productions","tag-sports","tag-xds-astana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}