500 words about October

Time flies. It feels like only weeks ago that we lined up for the Tour Down Under in January, and now the 2024 season has come to an end, just two weeks ago. But the final month of the season didn’t disappoint, providing some exciting racing to close out the year in style. In case you missed anything due to your own autumn rides or the differences in time zones, we’ve got you covered with our recap in no more than 500 words.

We kicked off the month on a high, with Max Poole wearing the leader’s jersey at Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, following his victory on the queen stage at the end of September. Supported by his teammates and some smart racing to secure bonus seconds, Max celebrated not only his first professional win but also took the overall race victory.

Meanwhile, our Men’s program was also busy at the CRO Race, where Tobias Lund Andresen delivered a perfectly timed effort on the hilltop finish of stage four, securing a brilliant stage win. The team worked hard over the following days, collecting bonus seconds to contest the general classification. Tobias finished second overall, just eight seconds behind the leader, capping off a successful week.

The final men’s stage race of the season took place at the Tour of Guangxi in China. Oscar Onley, another graduate from Development Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, was in the mix on the queen stage, and on the summit finish, he was narrowly beaten into second place. The team protected his position on the final day, enabling Oscar to secure his first-ever WorldTour GC podium, finishing second overall.

Our Women’s program wrapped up their season with two challenging one-day races in Italy: the Giro dell’Emilia and Tre Valli Varesine. Despite tough weather conditions, Juliette Labous claimed third and sixth places, respectively. Nienke Vinke also added a solid sixth-place finish at the Giro dell’Emilia.

Their final race of the year was the Simac Ladies Tour, held on home Dutch soil. The team worked brilliantly, leading out Charlotte Kool in the sprints and looking after each other in the crosswinds. Franziska Koch put in a standout ride on stage four, taking the GC lead after a strong breakaway effort. Though she lost the jersey on the final day, she secured second place after a fighting ride from her and the whole squad. Unfortunately, Charlotte had to abandon the race after a crash that resulted in a broken collarbone, which saw her end her season a bit earlier than planned, and not the way everyone hoped.

Reflecting on the season, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL head coach Rudi Kemna said: “The final weeks of the season were a testament to the hard work we’ve put in all year. We’ve demonstrated strong teamwork once again, and we’ve seen some of our young riders from the Development program make great strides. This year has been a huge success, with victories in the opening stages of both the men’s and women’s Tour de France, and plenty of strong results throughout the season. Our Men’s program had their most successful season since 2015, with many wins coming from riders who’ve come up through our Development program. Across all three programs, we’ve made significant progress both on and off the bike, and we look forward to building on this and continuing to make strides in 2025.”

We hope you’ve enjoyed following us throughout the 2024 season with our short monthly recaps. While the wait for the new season may sometimes feel long, we’ll continue to keep you updated with our monthly newsletter during the off-season.