The team take to Austria for the first preparations towards the 2024 season

With the last races of the 2023 cycling season now almost a distant memory, the preparations for the new season are already in full swing. As part of the kick-off, Team dsm-firmenich’s full 2024 roster, including the coaching group, travelled to Austria for a team-building weekend. The event could take place in the beautiful VAYA Hotel Feierbrunn. The hotel is owned by Joost Romeijn, whom is a long-standing friend of the team, and this relationship stems from the period when the team was officially known as Team Sunweb.

“I think it was nice bringing together our whole 2024 team in a really beautiful environment down in Austria. We had a great time together but also learnt a lot from each other, as we get ready for the new season. On Saturday we did an 18.5-kilometre hike, with some fun games added into the mix,” explained Matt Winston, coach for the Men’s program.

The hike through the beautiful scenery of the Austrian mountains was not for the faint hearted, with 1000 elevation metres and a couple of challenges to make things a little more challenging along the way.

In mixed teams of nine or ten, riders first had to complete a darts challenge before the walk began, with each team needing to score 180 before they could begin their hike. A simple, printed map was the only help for each team to find their way to all of the five checkpoints, where more challenges were waiting for them to complete. To add to the day’s difficulty, the teams also had additional items to carry with them, such as water packs and balloons. Failing at one challenge, putting down the pack of water or an exploding balloon led to time penalties – which caused some sabotage and battles between the teams along the way. The competitiveness of professional cyclists goes further than only on the bike and some teams were seen sprinting the final five kilometres to the finish, in a last bid to secure a good time.

“It was a really fun, but challenging day on Saturday where we hiked for almost 20 kilometres. We raced in teams of 10 and had a lot of different tasks along the way. Although it was pretty hard, it was really rewarding getting to the finish and I think we all motivated each other. The views and scenery were also incredible during the hike, and the hot chocolate at the end never tasted so good,” Pfeiffer Georgi said as she looked back on the day.

Romain Combaud added: “The long walk with some funny games and battles between the groups were especially pretty good and I think we have to thank the people that organised the weekend for that!”

Once everyone was back from the hike, there were some more fun teambuilding games, where everyone did an online personality test – which created a nice moment for everyone to get to know each other a little bit better but also get a feeling for where all the different characters fit into the team and how that impacts in the team environment.

Of course the weekend would not be complete without a trip to the local bar for some drinks and dancing….we promised to keep the “interesting” dancing and singing performances strictly confidential… Maybe they should stick to the bike racing!

The team were back to it again on Sunday with another challenge – High Ropes. A fun challenge for some but a mental battle for those not so keen on heights. Here, we again saw the team come together and after everyone passed the parcours with their difficulty of choice, they were ready to relax and hang around in the hotel together. This time was also used to enjoy the great facilities of the VAYA hotel, such as the Spa area. The action-packed weekend ended with a big closing dinner and an easy evening before everyone went their separate ways home the next morning.

“It was really nice to get to know all the riders better in a relaxed environment like we had this weekend. Having all riders across the three programs together helps us build as one big team towards the 2024 season.” Women’s coach Kelvin Dekker looked back on the weekend.

Development program coach Bennie Lambregts added: “We saw everyone having a lot of fun together over the weekend, and that is the real basis to becoming one team, having fun together. The new riders had a warm welcome, and we all got to know each other in a different environment, away from the races or pressures of the season, so I would say this weekend was definitely a success. The combination of some tough activities, party time and a really nice hotel to stay in was the basis of this success and of course, all the riders and staff who made it special.”

With a weekend in the bag to motivate them ready for the new season, it’s time now for riders enjoy their off-season, before training resumes once again.

“We are looking forward to coming back together as a team in December at our team camps as we bring back the focus fully to 2024. In the meantime, the guys back at HQ are already working hard on making our 2024 plans concrete.” Matt Winston said looking ahead to the next moments when the team comes together.