Unibet Rose Rockets and Kubis proved their colleagues wrong: 'We got zero respect'

The second year of Unibet Tietema Rockets at ProTeam level was one that could fill an entire book. The squad went from being considered outsiders in the peloton to sitting in pole position for a Tour de France Wildcard. Lukas Kubis emerged as the team’s standout rider, watching from the front row as that stormy rise turned the cycling world upside down.

Kubis himself also experienced a rapid rise. In 2019, he joined the continental team Dukla Banska Bystrica, where he spent five years. He describes it as a place where he could enjoy life and racing, but it was not until 2024 - at a new team - that he truly felt himself developing as a professional cyclist.

That new step came with Elkov-Kasper, which lifted the Slovak to a new level. “When I joined Elkov, I was very happy with my former coach,” he told Domestique. “because he made the difference... He made me go from an average rider to a rider who could win races in only three, four months." And win he did: five victories in smaller races, alongside the Slovak national titles in both the road race and the time trial.

The progression was rapid. Kubis increasingly found himself among the biggest names in the peloton, earning him a ticket to the Olympic Games of 2024. In Paris, he finished 29th. “I put it all out there at the Paris Olympics, in the Europeans (14th), and also with so many races at the 1.1 and 2.1 level. I did so many results, and they started talking, and they recognized my name. In the end, the offers were there.”

Despite those results, WorldTour teams stayed away. “I think for a rider from Eastern Europe, it’s sometimes harder to get into the WorldTour because the sport is less popular over there,” he explained. Those teams may now be regretting it. Kubis ended 2025 in 60th place on the UCI rankings, ahead of riders such as Søren Wærenskjold, Paul Seixas, Thibau Nys and Enric Mas.

It was a whirlwind season, but it did not come easily. Kubis needed time to adjust to the new level. “Coming from conti level, everything was different. Harder races, longer races. Positioning to the cobbles, to the key sectors – it was way more important. At conti, you just go full gas and then you’re there.”

Kubis surprised friend and foe at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by finishing sixth. He followed that up with an impressive spring, and the Rockets as a whole were also prominent in Belgium and France. This year was a year where everything changed for the team: including the way colleagues viewed Bas Tietema's team.

“At the beginning of the year, it was bad,” Kubis recalled. “We got zero respect. But race by race, with the results and the way we raced, they realized we’re not just a small team, we want the biggest results. The respect grew higher and higher. In cycling, first you build respect, then you enjoy it.”