Team dsm-firmenich

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 two rebrands, however, and are now known as Team dsm-firmenich, dropping the Sunweb travel brand in favour of a Dutch multinational corporation. 

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. 

Bardet remains the team’s best hope for Grand Tour success, but it does seem as though they’ve got one eye on the future too following the recent promotion of promising Britons Oscar Onley and Max Poole from their development squad. 

These youngsters will no doubt help the team to fill part of the void left by several departing talents, like Arensman, Søren Kragh Andersen, Nikias Arndt and Cees Bol. But to ensure that the hole in their roster is properly plugged, the team have also added WorldTour experience in the form of Patrick Bevin, Harm Vanhoucke and Alex Edmondson.

Romain Bardet

Oscar Onley

Kevin Vermaerke

Alberto Dainese

Sam Welsford

Andreas Leknessund

Marius Mayrhofer

Nils Eekhoff

Max Poole

Matthew Dinham

Chris Hamilton

Tobias Lund Andresen

John Degenkolb

Pavel Bittner

Lorenzo Milesi

Patrick Bevin

Harm Vanhoucke

Marco Brenner

Casper van Uden

Alex Edmondson

Sean Flynn

Florian Stork

Niklas Märkl

Romain Combaud

Leon Heinschke

Jonas Iversby Hvideberg

Henri Vandenabeele

Martijn Tusveld

Frederik Rodenberg

Tim Naberman

Racing

News

Race News

Romain Bardet: The first part of the Tour de France is the hardest

Romain Bardet in action at the Tour de Romandie in April

Romain Bardet (Team DSM) returns to racing at the Tour de Suisse (June 11-18) this weekend and the Frenchman is aiming to be protagonist in the mountain stages before fine-tuning his form ahead of the Tour de France in July.

Bardet’s 2023 season has been hampered by illness, including a bout of COVID, but he has been resolutely consistent in terms of results, picking up top tens in Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and La Flèche Wallonne. A three-week block of altitude training spanned his calendar in late May and early June, and while he made his way to Switzerland ahead of Sunday’s stage 1, he spoke to 

“I’m looking forward to the race. It’s probably no secret that the Dauphiné is probably my favourite stage race on the calendar but going into the Tour de France, I think that Suisse might be the best option,” the Frenchman said.“We’ve been working really hard with a camp in Teide and now I’m just excited to be pinning a number on again. The timing is the main reason I’ve gone for Suisse over the Dauphiné.”

When it comes to the Tour de France and building form, timing is one of the key elements. Usually the first week of the Tour is littered with flat stages, but this year’s Grand Depart in Spain is one of the toughest in recent years. Stage 1 alone has 3,000m of climbing, while stage 5 from Pau to Laruns could blow the race apart. Stage 9 to Puy de Dôme, which comes just before the first rest day, could be even more significant in the race for the yellow jersey, and Bardet believes that a slow start will cost GC riders dearly if they arrive at the Tour undercooked.

“To be honest, I think that the first part of the Tour is the hardest,” he told 

.“I’ve never seen that before in the Tour and that’s going to be a new experience. For me, more or less, the rankings after the first rest day will be similar to the ones that we’ll probably see in Paris at the end of the race. For sure, if you’re out of shape in the first week then you’ll struggle for a GC result. That’s why we wanted to concentrate on a big training load in May and early June and then head to Suisse before a short taper.

“The first week, on paper, looks so difficult, and if you’re not in top shape for the opening weekend then you might end up losing time. The first stage looks really hard and the race could explode there and then by the time we reach the Pyrenees and then stage 9 with Puy de Dôme, there could be a lot of fatigue. If you just take the first part as a one-week stage race, it’s one of the hardest week-long races of the year, and we’ll still have two weeks to go.”

In terms of the here and now, Bardet is focused on the Tour de Suisse, a race he’s never competed in during his long and illustrious career. Despite his modest interpretation of his season to date, the 32-year-old is motivated to leave a lasting impression on the summer ahead.

“Nothing has really gone my way this season,” he said. “I had a lot of trouble with sickness in almost all of my races. From the week before Paris-Nice, all the way through the end of Catalunya, where I had to pull out, I was never at 100 percent. Then I had really good shape in the Classics but then had COVID. I hope that my health is now good, and this is my favourite part of the year.

“My main hope for Suisse is to be really consistent in the hard mountain stages and to fight for those wins. Then I’ll see how I did with the time trials because they’ll be a big part of the final GC. I might be a bit below some of the faster time trialists but the main aim is to build on confidence in the mountain stages. I’ll take it day-by-day but I’ll focus on being competitive in the mountain stages.” 

Once Suisse is out of the way all attention will return to the Tour de France. The Team DSM leader finished sixth in 2022, despite a less than ideal preparation, and he knows that the battle for the podium in 2023 will be a hard-fought affair. More than placing inside the top five or top ten, Bardet is aiming to show his characteristics and leave an entertaining and aggressive impression on the three-week race.

“There will be a massive competition for the top five and the podium because there will be a lot of riders, maybe ten, who are behind Pogačar and Vingegaard who can be competitive. For me, I just want to be able to show myself and be a protagonist,” he said.

“I want to be one of the main actors of the race. I don’t want to finish the race in the top ten but just follow before I’m dropped at some point. That’s the last thing I want. I want to show myself, and with the team, be a real protagonist.”Bardet has forged a career as one of the most likeable and charismatic riders in the men’s WorldTour. However, at 32, he is admittedly closer to the end of his career than the start, and with compatriot Thibaut Pinot hanging up his wheels at the end of the year, Bardet - who is the same age as the Groupama-FDJ rider - is well aware that he only has a finite amount of racing ahead of him.

For now, the focus is entirely on the last 18 months of his current contract with DSM, while the future will likely depend on how the Frenchman fairs in stage races, and how motivated he is to prolong his time in the sport. Right now, the fire within Bardet burns bright, and the hope is that he arrives at the Tour in red hot form.

“To be honest, right now I’m not looking beyond 2024,” he said.“It’s so hard to be competitive and it takes so much from you but I still feel that I have some things to achieve in my career. I still have a year and a half left, and then we’ll see, but I’m very motivated for my remaining time with the team. I don’t know if next year will be my final season, it’s 50-50 and it really depends on how I perform and how I fit with my role and my standards. I’ll get the answers that I need in the next Grand Tours.”

Romain Bardet: The Tour de France is just another race for me

Romain Bardet competes at the 2022 Tour de France

Targeting the Tour de France as the main goal of his season for the first time since 2020, 

 admits he feels like a “more complete rider” since his move to 

 and has confidence of challenging for the podium over the coming weeks.

Prior to joining the Dutch outfit in 2021, Bardet had never ridden the Giro d’Italia and feels his participation in the Italian race over the past two seasons has helped rejuvenate his spirits ahead of this year. Turning pro with French team 

 in 2012, the home hero was never given the opportunity to ride the Giro given the team’s emphasis on the Tour de France.

“It is good to change a bit, as you know I had been sticking to the Tour for most of my first ten years in professional cycling,” Bardet said. “It was not the case that because I rode the Giro for two years, I wanted to skip the Tour for the rest of my career.

“I think everything fell nicely this year with the parcours to give it another good go at the Tour. So I am really happy to participate this year.”

Riding the Tour de France every year for AG2R La Mondiale between 2013 and 2020, Bardet’s only other Grand Tour participation came at 

. He spoke of needing to reset when he left the team in 2021.

“I would say in terms of [team] environment, I really like to be part of dsm-firmenich because I now don’t see any major difference between riding the Tour and any other race - there is no extra pressure,” concluded Bardet.

His race programme reflected this shift in mentality, with the two-time Tour de France podium finisher skipping the race entirely in 2021 and only returning last year following his departure from the Giro d’Italia with a crash.

The 2022 Tour de France was the first that Bardet had ridden for dsm-firmenich and brought his highest finish at the race since 2018, with the Frenchman finishing in 6th in Paris. Earlier in his career, Bardet was tipped to become the first Frenchman since Bernard Hinault in 1985 to win the Tour de France, following second and third-place finishes in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

However, the prodigious talent’s downfall was often found in the time trials, with Bardet’s progress seeming to falter during his final few years with the French AG2R La Mondiale squad. Bardet believes the improvements he has made at dsm-firmenich over the past two seasons have made him a ‘more complete rider’ as he bids to return to the Tour de France podium.

“To be competitive these days in cycling, you can’t afford to have the same level that you had before 2019. I have improved a lot in time trials and in my consistency in the long efforts over the climbs.”

For many, the battle for the yellow jersey at this year’s race is a two-horse race between reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and two-time winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). But, refusing to be drawn into naming his rivals for the podium, Bardet was adamant that the two favourites should not be treated with extra deference as opposed to the other GC hopefuls.

“The biggest mistake we can make would be just to focus on other guys. For me there won’t be two races in one, we will just have to be consistent over the three weeks and take opportunities to jump and gain time on everyone.”

Such strong words will have French fans excited to follow the fortunes of the 32-year-old over the coming weeks, with Bardet among a number of contenders who should rightfully dream of finishing on the podium in Paris. But for the dsm-firmenich leader, added experience and a move away from a French team have offered him the maturity to head into this Tour de France with a sense of calm.

“At the end of the day, it is just another bike race for me and we [also] have big ambitions in the sprint stages [with Sam Welsford]. I feel I can fit much better into my role as a GC leader now being in this environment.”

The Tour de France begins in the Basque Country on Saturday 1 July, with each stage live and ad-free on 

 (territory restrictions apply). With a first stage showdown on the cards between the likes of Romain Bardet, 

), it promises one of the most exciting Grand Départs in years to kick off the 110th Tour de France. Make sure not to miss it.

Tech

Features

Tech Features

2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams

 is set to deliver another year of unforgettable racing.

Like at the beginning of every season, there will be a short period of familiarisation as teams emerge from their winter hibernations with new riders, kit and, for some, names – It will take us a while, for example, to get used to 

Luckily, there is much more consistency in the realms of 

, where teams only tend to make major changes every few seasons when their current brand partnerships come to an end. 2024 is no different, with most teams riding the same bikes, groupsets and wheels as the previous season, although there are some notable changes.

Here’s a complete guide to all of the bikes, groupsets, wheels and tyres that every team at Men’s WorldTour level will use during the 2024 season.

Tech partnerships can change at any time, so we’ll keep this guide updated as and when any more new partnerships are announced.

Best men's WorldTour bikes of 2023: Which brand won the most races?

WorldTour bike sponsorship changes for 2024

, the bike brand transfer merry-go-round isn’t quite as intense, so there’s always a degree of stability and familiarity. Most teams sign multi-year deals with their selected brands, so the opportunity to swap to a different one only comes around every few seasons - unless a team is willing to break a partnership off early, but that can lead to some public spats, as Lotto Dstny found out in 2023.

Ridley hits back at Lotto Dstny ‘disloyalty’ over early ending of partnership

Luckily, there doesn’t appear to be any such animosity between 

 called an end to their 22-year partnership ahead of the 2024 season

, which also sponsors fellow WorldTour team Astana Qazaqstan. Groupama-FDJ are one of only two men’s WorldTour that swapped bike sponsors for 2024.

 joined them on this list after switching to Decathlon-owned Van Rysel bikes from BMC. AG2R have been partnered with 

 since 2021 and the Swiss brand has been an ever-present in the WorldTour peloton for over a decade.

Lapierre and Groupama-FDJ split after 22 years of collaboration

Elsewhere, there are no changes. That means that the two most successful teams, UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike, will continue to ride 

 bikes, respectively. Ineos Grenadiers’ long-standing partnership with 

 have been joined by Wilier in the list of brands which sponsor more than one team. Canyon is partnered with Alpecin-Deceuninck and Movistar, while Specialized is a long-term partner of Soudal Quick-Step and Bora-Hansgrohe.

Shimano dominance continues, Campagnolo clings to WorldTour status

While Canyon and Specialized win the popularity stakes for bikes, 

 completely eclipses it on the groupset front. The Japanese manufacturer has dominated the WorldTour peloton for a number of years now and it only appears to be getting stronger.

Fourteen of the 18 men's WorldTour teams used the Dura-Ace groupset in 2023 and that number hasn't budged in 2024, although its line-up has changed with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale hopping aboard from Campagnolo while Bora-Hansgrohe have headed to SRAM.

Mechanical Shimano 105 goes 12-speed and is disc-brake only

 sponsored three teams in 2023 but that is up to four with the addition of Bora. Among the other SRAM-sponsored teams are Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Movistar. Despite its inferior numbers, SRAM boasts a flawless Grand Tour record in 2023, teaming up with Jumbo-Visma to win the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

’s stay at WorldTour level came to an end after AG2R made the switch to Shimano as a part of its partnership with Van Rysel. The historic Italian brand is also absent from the 

Why will Campagnolo be absent from WorldTour level in 2024? GCN Tech Show

Canyon’s bikes have topped the podium at multiple Monuments and Grand Tours over the last few seasons, usually at the hands of either 

. Last year’s palmarès included wins at both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, before Philipsen topped off a four-stage haul with the green jersey at the Tour de France.

All of those victories came atop the aero-focussed Aeroad, but the team also uses the lightweight Ultimate for climbing stages.

Ollie Bridgewood’s new Canyon Aeroad CFR in Alpecin-Deceuninck team colours

Few bike brands have as much pedigree within the sport as 

. Its Celeste colourway has become a fan favourite but, beyond the looks, the Italian brand’s bikes have teamed up with some of the biggest names in cycling’s history, including Fausto Coppi.

After Jayco-AlUla jumped to Giant for 2022, Bianchi was briefly left without a home in the WorldTour, but it made a comeback with 

Bianchi launches updated 6.6kg Specialissima road bike

 will be hoping that the Manx Missile can make history by breaking the record for Tour de France stages win in 2024. He’ll attempt to do it atop a 

 bike. Italian brand Wilier and the Kazakh team have been working together since 2020. 

Last season there was some confusion over the team's wheel sponsor with both Corima and HED wheelsets making an appearance, but this year the team has switched to Vision.

Mark Cavendish's Wilier Filante SLR: New pedals, saddle, and wheels for 2024

 since the team’s inception in 2017 and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon. The pair extended the partnership into 2022 to an undisclosed time, only stating that it is a “multi-year partnership”. As a minimum, the team will race Merida bikes during the 2024 season, when it will be hoping to build on its 12 WorldTour wins in 2023.

 who added another achievement to the Merida palmarès late in the season when he won the Gravel World Championships atop a then-unreleased 

Bahrain Victorious pro bike: Jack Haig’s Merida Reacto

headlines in late 2023 when they signed Primož Roglič from Jumbo-Visma

. The Slovenian will head up their GC ambitions at the Tour de France where he’ll hope to depose former teammate Jonas Vingegaard.

With a new team comes a new bike in the form of the 

. Released in August of 2023, it’s the latest version of Specialized’s do-it-all superbike. Unlike other brands, Specialized doesn’t offer dedicated climbing and aero bikes, instead packing everything into one machine.

The team also stole the tech headlines over the winter through their 

, which may have been influenced by the arrival of Roglič, who has been using the American brand's groupsets over the last few seasons.

Sam Welsford’s Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8

’ long, 15-year wait for a Tour de France victory to an end in 2023. He delivered the victory atop the 

 795 Blade RS which only broke cover at Eurobike in June, although the team had been riding it since swapping over from De Rosa at the beginning of the season.

Having only linked up for the 2023 season, it appears that it’s already been a 

 partnership for Cofidis, but can it propel them to more victories in 2024?

Bryan Coquard's Look 795 Blade RS: Cofidis’ Do-It-All Superbike

AG2R Citroën is one of the rare teams to switch bike brands for 2024 after Decathlon jumped on-board as co-title sponsors, bringing 

. The team previously rode Decathlon bikes between 2000 and 2007.

That move brought to an end the team's three-year partnership with BMC who will be absent from WorldTour level for the first time in over a decade. The team's switch to Shimano also means that Campagnolo is without a WorldTour team for 2024.

Having previously worked with the now Jayco-AlUla team, 

 in 2021 and the partnership was extended by an extra two years at the beginning of 2023. Along with its Foil, Addict and Plasma bikes, the team also uses finishing kit from Scott’s in-house Syncros brand, including saddles and cockpits. 

This was extended to include time-trial wheels

 in 2023 after Syncros released its Capital SL wheelset.

How A Bike Tyre Is Made | Pirelli Factory Tour

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Commuting Advice From Other Cyclists On Their Ride To Work!

Are Decathlon Winning Because Of The New Van Rysel? | GCN Tech Show 333

Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Romain Bardet	33	14	1696
Oscar Onley	21	2	791
Kevin Vermaerke	23	1	790
Alberto Dainese	26	16	776
Sam Welsford	28	9	661

Team dsm-firmenich

Team dsm-firmenich

The Team

Top Team dsm-firmenich Stories

Romain Bardet: The first part of the Tour de France is the hardest

Romain Bardet: The Tour de France is just another race for me

2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams

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