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Follow us on GoogleFebruary has not even started yet, but the Unibet Rose Rockets already have their first win of the season. Dylan Groenewegen struck on Sunday in his very first race for the team, which caused plenty of excitement within the organisation — especially for team owner Bas Tietema. With IDLProCycling.com, he looked ahead to what the 2026 season could bring for the Rockets.
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“What a day,” Tietema said after the victory by his new sprinter. “It was the first race for Dylan, but also for Elmar Reinders, Karsten Larsen Feldmann and Rory Townsend as Rockets. And the first race for Marcel Kittel as our new sprint coach. With Dylan and Marcel, and all the other new riders, we’ve made a clear choice: our sprint core is central.”
“Together with all our partners we’ve invested time, trust, budget and belief to build something special. That everything already comes together so well in the very first race is fantastic,” the proud team boss continued. “This is teamwork, preparation and dedication paying off in the best possible way, and that in just a few months’ time.”
'And this is just the beginning!'
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Dylan Groenewegen shot an immediate hit on his debut for Unibet Rose Rockets.
Interview Bas Tietema (Unibet Rose Rockets)
A win is always nice, but in the case of Groenewegen it also immediately delivers important UCI points. Points are extremely valuable for a ProTeam, as they largely determine future race invitations. Earlier, Lukáš Kubis already finished on the podium, while Reinders placed fourth in Valencia. A strong start to the season could prove decisive, as a top ProTeam ranking would allow the Rockets to choose which races they want to ride in 2027.
“We’ve doubled our UCI points every year,” Tietema explained. “With the step we’ve taken this year, with fifteen new riders, we could finish in the top three. Ultimately, those points are largely the result of performance, although of course you can also make certain choices to unlock your potential.”
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Tietema and Groenewegen celebrate the win in Valencia.
Tietema as face of Unibet Rose Rockets
A lot has changed at the Rockets this winter. The team name now includes co-sponsor Rose instead of Tietema’s own name, and the bike brand also supplies new, high-quality equipment. In addition to fifteen new riders, the squad also added a significant number of new staff members. “I saw many more people in December than last year,” Lukas Kubis noted.
“We weren’t at the first training camp together, so this was really the first time we saw everyone like this,” Tietema said in Albir, where the team prepared for the new season. “And then you see Marcel Kittel, Dylan Groenewegen, Victor Lafay and Wout Poels — riders you partly grew up with. That’s a moment where you think: what has happened? The beautiful thing is that the culture has been very well preserved and that we can continue to grow.”
Tietema himself plays a clear role within the organisation. He is not involved in race selections or sporting decisions, which allows him to act as a figurehead and ambassador for the team. During the transfer of Victor Lafay, for example, Tietema was closely involved, but decisions on race programmes and roles are left to the sporting staff.
One area where Tietema does contribute directly is scouting — and that has been particularly important this winter, with fifteen new riders joining the squad. “I watch a lot of races — everything from the Tour of Taiwan to Olympia’s Tour,” he explained. “At first that was a necessity, because we didn’t have the biggest budget or scouting department. Sometimes it’s a feeling, but data and personality are also important.”
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Tietema in Albir, where the team was on an internship heading into the 2026 season.
Tietema gives insight into scouting
The Rockets signed experienced names such as Groenewegen, Poels, Lafay, Reinders, Townsend and Clément Venturini, but also brought in riders who are still relatively unknown to the wider public, including Feldmann, Colin Savioz, Ronan Augé, Eivind Broholt Fougner, Tobias Müller, Jannis Peter, Martijn Rasenberg, Matyáš Kopecký and Niklas Larsen.
“Lukáš Kubis has gone through extreme development and is the perfect example,” Tietema said. “And take Niklas Larsen — did I expect him to finish third at the European time trial championships? No, I didn’t. But I saw that he had a lot of talent in Cholet and the Volta NXT Classic.”
“For us it’s always exciting, because we’re not the team riders wait months for. If we sign someone, it’s often at a moment when others haven’t seen it yet. So a few riders were taken away right under another team’s nose. There have been a few, but of course, hindsight is always easy.”
In 2026, when you mention Unibet Rose Rockets or Bas Tietema, one race immediately comes to mind: the Tour de France. Whether that will already happen this year remains uncertain. “That we want to ride the Tour is a goal we’ve spoken about internally,” Tietema said. “Whether that’s this year or next year doesn’t really matter. The fact that we’re already being talked about is a huge compliment.”
After repeated requests, he finally gives one example. ‘Because it was already in a video. Isaac del Toro rode the Sibiu Tour in 2023, when we were also riding. I doubt that many teams had their sights set on him back then, but after that, things went very quickly for him and he was successful every week. There are a few others like that, but there are also five riders who did not deliver what we expected of them.’
Niklas Larsen, third at the European Time Trial Championships, with Filippo Ganna and Remco Evenepoel.
Unibet Rose Rockets and Tour de France?
In 2026, anyone who mentions Unibet Rose Rockets or Tietema will immediately think of that one cycling race in France in July. Whether they will participate or not is a question he cannot answer in mid-January. “Our ambition to ride the Tour is something we have expressed ourselves. Whether that is this year or next year, that doesn't change. The fact that we are being mentioned now is already a great compliment. We have experienced significant growth over the past year and are trying to be as prepared as possible.”
This applies not only to the riders, but also to the entire entourage around them. From sports manager Eelco Meenhorst to the entire media department, which already proved itself in the first days of racing in 2026 with lightning-fast and high-quality content on YouTube. “When Ajax did well in the Champions League, they had to make sure their media strategy was in place. Whether we win or lose, we want to make our impact as big as possible.”
The Tour, also in that respect, then as a dot on the horizon? Tietema says he doesn't really have a horizon. “One of the goals is to become the most followable team with the largest fan base. That's kind of an infinite thing, which is also nice. If riding a big classic or tour or winning a certain race were the ultimate goal and that were to happen, your goal would be gone.”
“Measuring success that is separate from the sporting aspect, which is of course always the number one priority, ensures that we can always grow. And that's very nice,” he concludes.
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Tom van der Salm (27) comes from the charming town of Zeilberg (Deurne) in the Netherlands and has been working as editor-in-chief & journalist at IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, In de Leiderstrui, since 2019. He travels with the peloton from the Tour de France to the AlUla Tour and from the World Championships in Rwanda or Canada to the Zilvermeercross in Mol. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, mountain biking, running, walking with his Labrador/Stabyhoun, investing, holidays, (specialty) beers, reading, cooking and watching sports & documentaries!
Contact: [email protected]
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