Team dsm-firmenich PostNL

Formerly Skil-Shimano, the once German now Dutch team made the jump to the WorldTour in 2013 as Argos-Shimano. 

They then became Giant-Alpecin before settling on their well-known guise of Team Sunweb from 2017 to 2020. They’ve since had three rebrands and are now known as dsm-firmenich PostNL, dropping the Sunweb travel brand in favour of a Dutch multinational corporation and the country's postal company. 

In 2022, Romain Bardet and Andreas Leknessund netted the team overall titles at the Tour of the Alps and the Arctic Race of Norway, while Alberto Dainese and Thymen Arensman picked up stage wins at the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. 

The following season, Bardet was a leader once again but the team also enjoyed a string of victories from sprinters, Sam Welsford and Alberto Dainese. In the absence of a victory from Bardet, Dainese took the team's most prestigious stage wins in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. The team also won the opening day team time trial at the latter. 

Bardet remains the team’s best hope for Grand Tour success in 2024, but it does seem as though they’ve got one eye on the future too following the promising seasons of Britons Oscar Onley and Max Poole. Meanwhile, fan favourite Warren Barguil will return to the team after six seasons spent with Arkéa. 

The team's most notable acquisition, however, is that of Fabio Jakobsen, with the Dutch sprinter making the move from Soudal Quick-Step. Jakobsen is a five-time Vuelta a España stage winner and former winner of the green jersey in Spain. For 2024, he will look forward to having a dedicated lead-out train at his disposal, after Quick-Step reorientated their team towards Remco Evenepoel's GC ambitions. 

Tech

Pro Bikes

Vuelta a España pro bike: Romain Bardet’s Scott Foil RC

Romain Bardet's sparkle-adorned Scott Foil RC set-up for the Vuelta a España

Check out Romain Bardet and dsm-firmenich's bike specced with Shimano components: the Scott Foil RC 

Romain Bardet's Scott Foil RC for the Vuelta a España

After withdrawing from the Tour de France earlier in the summer, 

turned his focus to the final Grand Tour of the season, the 

. It’s only the third time the Frenchman has started the Spanish stage race and he made a flying start, 

winning the opening team time trial alongside his dsm-firmenich teammates

 Plasma time trial bike, but for road stages the Frenchman will swap it for the aero Foil, like the one we got our hands on ahead of the race.

The bike was first released ahead of the 2022 Tour de France, accompanied by claims that it’s 21% faster, 9% lighter and 10% more comfortable than its predecessor. Almost every bike released has claims like this, but there’s no doubting that the bike looks fast, with a deep head tube and curved seat tube adding to the bike’s overall aesthetics.

That look is completed by, in our humble opinion, one of the best colourways in the peloton. Okay, the rear of the bike hardly stands out from the crowd, but the glistening top tube, head tube and forks are winners for us.

If you can see beyond the mesmerising colour, the top tube’s design also incorporates the team’s ‘Keep Challenging’ motto. The team opened its Keep Challenging Centre in Limburg, the Netherlands, in 2019. It provides a living space for young cyclists where they can develop within a high-end support network. After Aqua-Step joined the project in 2022, 

 was to “bring the first riders currently in the Aqua-Step Keep Challenging Centre to the Tour de France by 2025”. If all goes to plan, riders graduating from the set-up will be at cycling's biggest race in less than two years.

Like most bikes in the pro peloton, Bardet uses 

’s Dura-Ace groupset with a 54/40t drivetrain - that’s in the same ballpark as most bikes we’ve encountered at the race. That’s paired with an 11-34t cassette and Shimano pedals.

The team is also partnered with Syncros, a components brand owned by Scott. Interestingly, it supplies the team’s wheels for time trial stages, but not for the road stages, with Shimano’s Dura-Ace C50 still the wheelset of choice for Bardet. This may be swapped for something shallower when the mountains loom into view. These wheels are paired with 

 Corsa Pro tyres, with tan sidewalls - always a winner for us - which adds to the overall aesthetics of the bike.

Syncros’ integrated handlebar creates a sleek look with no cables in sight, although that’s the norm at this level of cycling. Bardet also uses the brand’s Belcarra saddle which doesn’t include a cut-out, as a lot of riders choose to. Bardet's build is finished with his 

Romain Bardet

Warren Barguil

Oscar Onley

Kevin Vermaerke

Fabio Jakobsen

Nils Eekhoff

Max Poole

Matthew Dinham

Frank van den Broek

Chris Hamilton

Tobias Lund Andresen

John Degenkolb

Emils Liepins

Pavel Bittner

Patrick Bevin

Casper van Uden

Alex Edmondson

Sean Flynn

Bram Welten

Enzo Leijnse

Gijs Leemreize

Niklas Märkl

Romain Combaud

Julius van den Berg

Timo Roosen

Martijn Tusveld

Patrick Eddy

Tim Naberman

Racing

News

Race News

dsm-firmenich PostNL launch 2024 teams, goals and jersey

 officially launched their 2024 teams at a presentation in Spain on Monday, outlining their plans for the coming season and unveiling the jersey that will be worn by their three squads this year.

 arms, revealed their plans and goals for the season, revolving around the men’s and women’s Grand Tours and riders like 

Leading by example: Fabio Jakobsen pleased to come full circle

On the men’s side, their main GC ambitions will lie at the 

"We really want to show ourselves at the Giro d’Italia and who we are as a team, animating the race each day,” Kemna said. “In the fight for the GC battle we will pick our battles wisely and ride smartly and tactically; seeing how the race unfolds and what position we can come to with this approach.

"For this we’ll have guys like Romain Bardet, Max Poole – who will really be able to learn a lot from Romain – Chris Hamilton and Matt Dinham. Next to this, we’ll also look for success in the sprints, something that is cemented in the team’s DNA from years gone by, where we’ll have Fabio Jakobsen complemented and supported by a good lead-out train, to search for day results."

, to focus is to be centred solely on stage results with Bardet, Jakobsen and Warren Barguil, whilst the Vuelta a España will be about giving some of their younger riders a chance to develop their Grand Tour abilities.

Could 2024 be Romain Bardet’s final season in the pro ranks?

The women’s programme, spearheaded by climber Juliette Labous and sprinter Charlotte Kool, will be built around GC placings and stage victories in all three of the women’s Grand Tours.

“Our women’s programme had a brilliant 2023 campaign, and we will look to build on that for the coming year, with our strong core and a focus across the board on the classics, sprints, and GC,” Kemna said. 

“Of course, a real highlight will be the Tour de France Femmes Grand Depart in the Netherlands, where we are based, where we will once again look to sprint success with Charlotte, next to our goals in the GC with Juliette.

dsm-firmenich Team Talk: Youth-first approach continues to reap rewards with bright future ahead

“In fact, we will once again target the GC in all three of the women’s Grand Tours. The Giro Donne, Vuelta a España and the Tour de France Femmes will all be big goals in the overall standings with Juliette who made a great step in 2023, podiuming the Giro Donne; the first for our Women’s program.”

In the Spring Classics, Brugge-De Panne winner Pfeiffer Georgi will be given leadership alongside Franziska Koch, whilst Kool will also be mixed into the strategy for the more sprint-friendly races.

The team welcomed PostNL as a new title sponsor at the end of last season, and on Monday launched their new-look jersey, to be worn by all three squads in 2024.

Team dsm-firmenich announce PostNL as new co-sponsor

The arrival of PostNL, whose brand colours are orange, has seen a revamp of the jersey design, leaving behind the dark, black and blue design for a lighter and more colourful aesthetic.

The base colour of the jersey is white, and the previously blue stripes have become orange. The blue is still there, too, with different shades making up a mountain-like pattern across the chest and sleeves of the jersey.

The light jersey is matched with darker shorts, which have the dsm-firmenich and PostNL logos on the leg. The kit is made by Nalini, who has made the team’s kits for the last few seasons.

The team’s Scott bikes are adorned with a similar design, with oranges and blues accenting the largely white frames.

Warren Barguil: Different rider, same hunger

Warren Barguil will race for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL in 2024

’s stock had risen to an all-time high. Fresh off the back of two 

 stage wins and the king of the mountains jersey, the French rider was in high demand and a move from Team Sunweb to 

Six years later and the now 32-year-old has made the long journey back to his roots, with a three-year deal signed at 

Warren Barguil returns to dsm-firmenich after six years away

“It’s been a long time, six years, but now I’m back with the team. For sure, I’m a different rider and person. I’m older, I’m married and have two kids, so it’s a different perspective that I arrive here with,” Barguil told 

 at dsm’s recent training camp in Calpe, Spain.

“It’s not that different on the team since I left. It’s still the same. Everything is planned, everything is clear and you know where you need to go. The team has grown a lot, and things have become but it’s still the same feeling here.”

During his time away from the team Barguil never quite hit the highs of that 2017 summer. There was the odd victory here and there, and plenty of gutsy displays in the mountains, but crashes and injuries often held him back. Now a new chapter begins, but the Frenchman isn’t ready to slip into the armchair status of a road captain any time soon. 

Instead, Barguil still sees himself as a potential winner, and while he was happy to pass on his vaults of experience to the younger riders on the team, he is eager to add to his palmarès. Linking up with 

 could prove one of the most interesting subplots of the new season, with the two French veterans on the same trade team for just the first time in their careers.

“I know what I can bring to the team, especially with my experience and I hope to help the young riders as much as possible,” he said.

“What’s nice is that a lot of the young riders here have come up from the development team so they really know how the team works. It makes a lot of things easier when it comes to planning and racing.

“For my objectives, we still need to discuss things with each other between me, the sports director and my coach. I want to reach a good level at some races and then be a helper at other races. But I don’t think I’m a road captain, not yet. The boss, Iwan Spekenbrink

brought me here for results, not just for a captain role. 

"I’m rooming with Romain Bardet here and I think that we can have some nice results together. I’ll go more for the Classics than the Grand Tours, and then with Romain, we’ll target stage wins in the three-week races. I’m really looking forward to next season.”

Interviews

 development team. Then known as Team Sunweb, the squad had a long history of developing sprint talent, and a fresh-faced Jakobsen thought that it would be the perfect squad to hone his skills.

However, circumstances intervened and the team was briefly put on hiatus, forcing Jakobsen to find a new squad. He signed for SEG Racing and then Quick-Step and it looked as though the Dutch sprinter would never have the chance to race for dsm-firmenich PostNL again.

But sport has a knack for throwing curve balls and second chances. Fast forward 10 years and the now 27-year-old is at his first fully-fledged dsm training camp in Calpe, Spain. He can’t yet wear the official clothing, It’s December and he’s still contracted to 

 for another few weeks, but the sprinter has completely immersed himself in his new surroundings as he sits down with 

“It’s been different, of course. When you’ve been in a team for six years, like I was at Quick-Step, there are a lot of new things and a lot of new faces. I still need to learn all of that but I think that’s normal. So far it feels like I’m back in an under-23 team because there are so many young guys and when I started at Quick-Step I was one of those young guys, but now I’m 27 and one of the oldest. There’s a different energy here,” Jakobsen says.

“In Quick-Step there was a more experienced energy and here they’re more eager. I like it though. I recognise myself when I was younger and these guys are still looking for direction, like where to go and how to get there. At Quick-Step, a rider like 

Fabio Jakobsen to sign for dsm-firmenich until 2026

That new energy appears to have given Jakobsen a fresh lease of life too. He’s certainly not in the veteran status of his career but he’s an established WorldTour sprinter with a vast amount of Grand Tour experience that includes six stage wins and the points jersey at the Vuelta a España. Soudal Quick-Step has a track record of hiring only the best sprinters in the world and it’s no coincidence that Jakobsen spent six years on the team. 

, to name but a few, had two each in recent years.

However, 2023 saw the break up of Soudal Quick-Step as we know it. Team boss Patrick Lefevere allowed several high-profile stars to leave as he juggled the responsibilities of appeasing 

’s Grand Tour push and the squad's natural affinity towards the spring Classics. Jakobsen, despite all his success in recent years, was one such rider allowed to move on, and while there were certainly no hard feelings between the rider, the team or the boss, part of Jakobsen was sad to see the break-up take place.

, Patrick told me that there was no spot for me. I was already talking to a few teams, and dsm were one of the first to make contact with my managers and myself. I’ve always had a good relationship with Patrick but I also spoke to the sports directors and the staff and if you don’t get an offer before the Tour, you know,” he says.

“When you’re in the team you can see it and feel it. Remco is someone you have to invest in and if I was running the team then I would do the same. It hurts, and it’s my personal pain, but I understand. The way Patrick works is that if he can’t offer you his best then he won’t offer anything. In the end, there was no offer so I didn’t have to make a choice. He didn't want to give me a programme that didn’t fit what I was capable of. We’ve parted ways but in a good way.”

dsm-firmenich PostNL proves the natural fit, but can the Dutchman overcome the Quick-Step curse?

With a place on the transfer market secured, Jakobsen and his agents at SEG set about finding a new home. There were plenty of initial options on the table, and the 27-year-old was probably the most sought-after sprinter without contact for 2023 but dsm felt like a natural fit almost as soon as talks began to take place. The squad needed a proven leader for the sprints, and Jakobsen wanted a team that would provide unwavering support and an environment in which he would not get bogged down in too many discussions over GC and stage racing.

“I spoke with Bora, Trek, EF, Arkéa, and Israel, those were the biggest teams,” he says.

“FDJ were also interested but as the months go on from the spring one team signs a rider and they all have options. I was one of the first to choose this option because of the heritage of the team, what they wanted to do and the programme we had together. It was a good match. The other teams were waiting a bit and trying to find out what they wanted to do. This, for me, was the best option.”

At dsm-firmenich PostNL the focus is always on development but Jakobsen gives them a cutting edge in sprints that they’ve not had since the days of Marcel Kittel or when John Degenkolb was at his fast-paced best. Jakobsen doesn’t strike as the overly demanding type but he does come across as an incredible professional and one who realises that dsm will allow him both a certain degree of flexibility and a significant amount of opportunities. Outside of Romain Bardet, they don’t have a rider who could confidently say that a top-ten finish in a 2024 Grand Tour is a realistic aim. Not yet, anyway.

“It was the full support on sprints,” Jakobsen says when asked why he chose dsm.

“As a sprinter, you don’t always have the luxury of going for the top teams because there’s always the GC ambition there but as a sprinter, you want to win sprints in the Grand Tours and if a team goes there with a GC then there’s no spot for a GC train. I think at Quick-Step it was possible but now it’s changing because of Remco. It’s how cycling is structured, so as a sprinter, you need to find a team that fully supports you in that quest.

“We’ve seen in the past with Argos-Shimano and Skil-Shimano that they won many bunch sprints with Kittel and Degenkolb and when I was a junior I signed a contract with the development team of Giant Shimano and then it stopped. I was transferred to SEG, so eight or nine years ago I was already thinking about joining this team because of their ambition and now it’s gone full circle and I think that’s where I fit in.”

There is another dynamic to the transfer, a rather uncomfortable truth that very few riders leave Lefevere’s stable and improve. It’s a fact that the majority of sprinters who depart the Belgian team see their results dry up almost immediately, with Sam Bennett raising the topic in a recent interview with 

Sam Bennett: I’ve a chip on my shoulder with how my career has unfolded

 Stat Attack: Cillian Kelly reveals how Soudal Quick-Step have perfected the transfer window

“Wout Poels was better but there’s not many,” Jakobsen says.

“I understand what Sam has said and I hope to improve too but the way that team was structured for sprinters was with phenomenal Classics riders for leadout riders and it was hard to find that in another team. The set-up, for the last ten years, it’s hard to find that elsewhere but that structure isn’t there anymore and the past is the past. I think you can leave a team like that and still reach a decent level. Matteo Trentin was good, [Michał] Kwiatkowski too. There are a few examples but I want to win races.”

Lead-out train for Jakobsen to take shape in the spring

Much of Jakobsen’s success over the next three years will depend on the quality of his lead-out train. His new squad have invested heavily in that sense, and to their credit, they already had several pieces in play during the 2023 season, with the likes of Alex Edmondson, and Degenkolb on the roster. Further reinforcements have been added after the departures of Sam Welsford and Alberto Dainese, with Enzo Leijnse, Bram Welten, Emīls Liepiņš, ​​and Julius van den Berg signing for the team.

Jakobsen still has to finalise his complete train, and the roles that certain riders will possess, but those finer details will be organised during the January camp and then tested during the early season races that pepper the spring.

'It will be Ballerini, then me and then Mørkov' in Mark Cavendish's lead-out, reveals Cees Bol

“I don’t know all of it yet. Few Dutch guys are coming here and then with a guy like Edmondson, we have a lot of experience here. Then there’s Timo, Bram, so I expect to work with them too. I have a feel that they want to switch up the trains a bit too because there are young guys who could use that experience. So far no one has said to me that I’ll work the whole year with Edmondson, for example, but I still need to chat with Roy Curvers, who is my coach. Overall though, I’m happy with the riders here. There’s no Mørkøv but there’s lots of potential. Maybe we make a Mørkøv. It might take a few years but riders here can step up.”

Jakobsen relishes in mentorship role to younger riders

For Jakobsen, the next few months are part of an important process for both himself and his teammates. Unlike ten years ago when he almost joined the team as an aspiring U23 rider, he is now one of the experienced leaders on the roster. The younger riders will look to him for guidance, in both the good times, and the bad, and that added responsibility is a welcome addition to Jakobsen’s remit.

“You have to trust the process and I’m really confident with how the team is set up,” He says.

“The contact between everyone is good and they’ve really invested in making this work. Of course, I know I have fast legs but I can’t win on my own. We want to do it as a team because then I have the chance to excel. It’s a nice feeling to have a new adventure.

“But this is a really nice project and we’ve got a lot of races to get things right over the next three years. For sure I need to get used to the leadership but I sometimes had that at Quick-Step but here it might be more important because they will look at me. I just want them to work with me and to work together because if I win then they win. I think we can win more than a few bike races if we get it right and there’s a lot more potential in the younger riders. 

"There’s a lot of energy here but it needs to be channelled in the right direction. Now I’m the guy, of course, they have trainers, who can help them and I know I need to improve too but it’s like being on a team with all my little brothers.”

Like family, you can’t always choose your teammates, but Jakobsen and dsm-firmenich PostNL are probably the best natural fit for a world-class sprinter and an aspiring team, and if Jakobsen can lead by example, and set the tone for his ‘little brothers’ then anything is possible this season.

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Romain Bardet	33	14	1696
Warren Barguil	32	12	879
Oscar Onley	21	2	791
Kevin Vermaerke	23	1	790
Fabio Jakobsen	27	57	559

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL

The Team

Team Bikes

Vuelta a España pro bike: Romain Bardet’s Scott Foil RC

Top Team dsm-firmenich PostNL Stories

dsm-firmenich PostNL launch 2024 teams, goals and jersey

Warren Barguil: Different rider, same hunger

Leading by example: Fabio Jakobsen pleased to come full circle

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