DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL
Looking for: Tour redemption via stage wins
It can't be easy being Dsmfirmenich Postnl. Being the 'second' Dutch Worldtour team lays them open to stark comparison with compatriots Visma-lease a bike, who exist, for the time being, on the opposite end of the results spectrum in the men's ranks.
With a new sponsor on board this season, in Postnl, budgets have been boosted, presumably, and at least one big-name rider duly signed in Fabio Jakobsen. But sprinters and their teams can take time to gel – perhaps things will click into place at the
Tour de France.
The team has celebrated nine wins so far in 2024, although six of these were at the Tour of Turkey. DSM make a big deal of developing talent and setting longterm goals for their riders, but they haven’t won a Tour stage since 2020 (then Team Sunweb) and at some point need to turn development into success.
Hitter: Romain Bardet
Regarded as a potential Tour de France winner before the current crop of superstars arrived in the peloton, Bardet. has notched up six top-10 Tour finishes, including two podiums. He's never before ridden it off the back of completing the Giro d’italia though. The Frenchman is a Grand Tour veteran, so knows how to look after himself over three weeks, but remains prone to a jours sans meaning a top five would be exceptional.
Star Rider: Fabio Jakobsen
Since signing for DSM this year, six-time Grand Tour stage winner Jakobsen has bagged just one win – a stage in the Tour of Turkey. But he is still only 27 and there's plenty of time to bond with a new leadout train.