Cycling: A little change every year. In keeping with this motto, the squad of the dsm-unternehmenich PostNL team is also changing a lot this winter. After a mixed season, the athletic directors once again have to accept high fluctuation. Can things really get better in 2024?
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dsm-unternehmenich: Only 11 wins this season in 2023
The Dutch team dsm-firmenich managed only eleven victories in the 2023 season. Unlike many other WorldTour teams, however, many of their successes were achieved in the highest level of cycling. Almost half – five in total – were celebrated in the WorldTour. Marius Mayrhofer kicked things off right at the beginning of the year. The German won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race at the end of January, marking the first professional victory of his career. Italian Alberto Dainese won a stage at both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. Thanks to the weather conditions and the darkness towards the end of the opening stage in Spain, they also won the team time trial, giving dsm-firmenich two stage wins at the Vuelta. Australian Sam Welsford completed the list of WorldTour victories with his stage win at the Renewi Tour. As general classification contenders, the experienced Romain Bardet and the young Max Poole were particularly impressive. Together, the Frenchman and the Briton secured several top-10 finishes. However, they didn't quite manage to achieve a major victory.
Many young drivers are leaving the team again
With 12 departures and 10 arrivals, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL isn't necessarily experiencing a higher turnover this winter than other teams. However, a closer look at the transfers reveals some cause for concern. The Dutch team is losing, among others, Alberto Dainese, Marius Mayrhofer , and Sam Welsford , all riders who have secured stage wins at the WorldTour level. They are also losing Andreas Leknessund , the rider who not only wore the pink jersey for several days at the Giro d'Italia but also achieved their best Grand Tour GC result with an 8th place finish. With five additional riders leaving – Marco Brenner, Jonas Hvideberg, Henri Vandenabeele, Lorenzo Milesi , and Leon Heinschke – all under the age of 24, the transfer balance on the outgoing side looks extremely dramatic. And this is not an isolated case. Looking back at the past few years, we see that young, up-and-coming riders repeatedly become WorldTour professionals at dsm, but then want to leave the team.
2024: dsm-unternehmenich PostNL brings 10 new ones
Due to the numerous departures, the dsm-firmenich PostNL roster naturally needs to be reinforced. They've signed Fabio Jakobsen , a top sprinter who didn't quite reach his usual form in 2023, but is now expected to replace the many sprinters who left the team. He could be supported in his pursuit of stage wins by other new signings including Timo Roosen, Emils Liepins, Bram Welten , and Julius van den Berg. Returning rider Warren Barguil and Gijs Leemreize, who hopes for more freedom after his move from Jumbo-Visma to dsm-firmenich PostNL, are expected to focus more on the climbs . Promoted from the dsm-firmenich development team are the two Dutchmen Frank van den Broek and Enzo Leijnse, as well as the Australian Patrick Eddy. Overall, it's difficult to imagine the team performing as well as, or even better than, last season in 2024. The squad hasn't necessarily gotten younger, but it hasn't necessarily gotten better either. The sporting management has to trust that every single driver can actually perform at their maximum potential.