With 13 new additions, the Unibet Rose Rockets It has placed itself at the forefront of the transfer market which is still going crazy in view of the new season. No team has changed so much and we are talking about a professional team that has increased its roster to 28 units.There are many interesting facts surrounding it, starting with the fact that the team, which moved up a category last year, has changed affiliation this season, switching from a Dutch license to a French one.
Even if the family name is no longer part of the official denomination, there is always someone involved in the team Bas Tietema and we asked the Dutch sports director for clarifications, starting precisely from the reasons for the change of nationality.
«I think we are truly an international team – he says – and With this new approach we have embraced many nationalities with Belgians, Dutch, Slovaks and Czechs, even Italians to be more of an international team. Last year, Unibet also became a partner of FDJ, the French lottery. For us, this was an important step, as we aim to participate in the Tour de France. After all, France has one of the greatest cycling cultures in the world."
Will the team's identity remain Dutch or will it change?
The team's identity is something relative, it depends on the narrative, the media. I think ours is a team without a specific identity for now, even if I think it will move more and more towards France considering the entry of a leader like lafay and other transalpine riders. But in the end it will be a mix of everything.
How do you rate the season that just ended?
A fantastic year. A real step forward we've made as a team. We finished 26th in the UCI rankings and we shouldn't forget that we've only existed since 2023, so we're very young. We still have to grow and improve every year, but I think we have achieved great results with 5 wins. Lukas Kubis It was obviously one of the big revelations of the season. So yeah, overall I'm very happy.
Your team is among the most active in this year's transfer market: which riders are you choosing?
We want to grow, we still have to take another step forward, which is why we had to be very active on the market. We're really looking for a combination of experience and youth. We have some riders who have already proven themselves. capable of performing at the highest levels, we have also been protagonists in WorldTour trials. But we also believe that we need to invest in emerging riders and I think of Nicholas Larsen, who came third at the European Time Trial Championships, as well as Matyas KopeckyI truly believe that these are riders who perhaps didn't want to participate in the biggest races yet, but who have the potential to become excellent elements, like Lukas Kubis did, for example.
Two riders with great track records like Groenewegen and Lafay are coming to Unibet: what do you expect from them and will they have different plans?
We're still working on our goals for next year, as we're not sure which races will be on the schedule. So sometimes it also depends on the wildcards. Of course Dylan and Victor give us that extra boost, they already know how to win even important races, but they also need to be an example for others. We want to compete to win more races and participate in an offensive and attractive way even in the most difficult events, I think Victor did that last year too.
Matyas Kopecky's arrival made history as the first diabetic cyclist to leave Novo Nordisk: how did you come to this decision?
I didn't know he was the first, but Matyas has already achieved excellent results in recent years. And his brother had obviously already been on our team for a year. I think Matyas has the potential to be a very good rider and that he also wants to make his mark in the most important races. I think that's also one of the reasons why he said yes. It's a gesture of trust towards us, he knows that we are a super good team and he wants to try to understand how far he can go.Even in the major classics or maybe even the Grand Tours, I see it as a positive outcome. We'd already had contact, but this year the situation got more serious.
Only one Italian remains in the team, Sergio Meris: What can you give to the team?
I think Sergio is a very talented rider in challenging and hilly races. I think it's important for him to be able to race, he clearly missed the national races a bit.It was a transition year, but I really hope he can grow well in Italian races as well as in the Coupe de France. I hope he can make another step forward next year because I think he has a lot of potential and a great pace.Being a first-year professional is never easy, especially if you're playing in tough competitions. But after a good winter of training, we'll have another striker in him.
What are your goals for next year?
I think one of our big goals as a team is to have more and more fans across Europe, to achieve the great dream of racing the Tour de France. I don't know if it will happen this year or next year, but I think we need to be as ready as possible and also race more and more. Especially WorldTour races. I think we're ready to compete in more and more events, including the classics. And maybe also at the Milan Sanremo, I think that with Kubis and Kopecky we have excellent elements to do really well there tooMaybe we're not good enough for the general classification of stage races yet, but I think we can improve a lot. I think it would be really nice to participate in races like Flanders or Strade Bianche. To show that we can take another step forward.
How difficult is the climb to the WorldTour, is it just a question of budget or is there more to it?
There's so much more. I think the World Tour is fantastic, but it's also hard to get into—it's an exclusive club. But if you're one of the top professional teams, you're in a great position. It's like being in a gray area, close to the big leap but not yet ready. There's that three-year cycle where you have to score points to earn the WT and three years ago we were just born, still a continental. I think we've made tremendous progress. This year, that cycle begins again, and if we can maintain this pace of growth, then perhaps we can. The budget counts a lot, with the riders' salaries, but I also think about the performances.In a year we'll be able to take stock of the situation, now we just have to work.
