Team dsm-firmenich are happy to announce that three talented Dutch riders will join their Men’s program as of next year: Gijs Leemreize, Timo Roosen and Bram Welten. Forming part of the sprint group, an area the team aims to continue to build on, Roosen is contracted through 2026 while Welten will ride in the two-stripes for 2024. Leemreize will join the GC group, where he is contracted through until the end of 2025.
Gijs Leemreize
Still only 23-years-old, Leemreize is a talented young Dutch climber who has made his way steadily through the ranks, picking up impressive results since turning pro at the beginning of the 2021 season. That year he had a solid start to his campaign before leading the Dutch national selection where he climbed with the very best to a strong fourth place on GC at the end of ten tough stages. Backing up that later in the campaign he proved again to be one of the best U23 riders by taking a stage win and the overall at the challenging Ronde de l’Isard. 2022 saw Leemreize continue to take steps and make his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d’Italia where he was one of the most attacking riders of the whole race; taking a second and third place, plus three further top tens from impressive rides in the breakaway. Following that he took a fifth place on GC at the Sibiu Cycling Tour, before consistent performances at the Deutschland Tour, Okolo Slovenska and CRO Race. An injury set back Leemreize at the start of this season, but he has returned to racing and performed well in a support role, as he looks to build and return to fighting at the pointy end of races in the coming seasons.
Leemreize said: “I’m really looking forward to riding for Team dsm-firmenich. I want to make the next step in my development and I believe that the team is the best place for me to do that. I see myself as a rider who can do well in stage races and that is something I want to get batter at. I believe that Team dsm-firmenich was the best choice for me with a nice race program and good support on the performance side.”
Team dsm-firmenich head coach Rudi Kemna continued: “Still only young, Gijs had a really good first few years in the peloton where he has taken some nice results in both U23 races but also from the breakaways in the Giro d’Italia for example. We believe that within our team and with the right structure and racing program then he can make another step up with us in his level. We want to work with him in the GC group where he can provide strong support for our finishers in some big races, but also get the opportunities himself at other events.”
Timo Roosen
The experienced Roosen has been a professional since 2015, plying his trade as a strong and industrious lead-out rider but also as someone who is adept in the one-day classics too where he has performed well in support of others, or has taken his own opportunities such as a win at the Ronde van Zeeland in 2017 from an attacking group. Roosen’s strength on the bike on the flatter terrain is also coupled with an astute tactical awareness, particularly in the fast finales where he’s been able to guide his various sprint finishers into position where they’ve been able to take well over 30 wins so far in his career. With his strength in the classics too, Roosen can also handle the short punchy climbs and that was more than evident when he took the Dutch national road race title over a testing course in 2021. Forming an integral part of the sprint group within the team while also joining up with the classics group, Roosen will be aiming to add to that tally of wins.
Roosen expressed: “I’m looking forward to moving to a new team having been with my current team for nine years now. I felt like it was time for a new challenge, so this offer and opportunity came at the perfect moment for me. I’m excited to getting stuck in with the team and to build on the sprint train with them. The talks that I have had with the team and the people in it have reassured me about my decision to take on this new challenge at Team dsm-firmenich; it feels like the team’s plans and mine fit together really well.”
Team dsm-firmenich head coach Rudi Kemna added: “Timo is an incredibly experienced lead-out rider and brings years of riding at the highest level in the peloton to the team. We think that he will fit in really well with our lead-out group. Alongside his riding skills, he’s also tactically astute and brings good communication skills for those crucial and hectic moments and will be an important piece in the chain. We will focus mostly on the sprint group with Timo and we believe that he still has the ability and drive to develop even further in that role.”
Bram Welten
Hailing from Tilburg in the Netherlands, Welten has progressed up the cycling ladder from ProContinental level to WorldTour in recent years, after a strong campaign as an U23 rider where he took success at Triptyque Monts Châteaux, Tour de Bretagne and GP Criquielion. Someone with a fast kick, Welten has impressed with many places of honour in fast-finishing one-day races in his time so far as a pro with numerous top fives and a brilliant win at the Tour de Vendée in 2021 after a windswept edition of the race. More recently after his step up to the WorldTour, Welten continued to pick up solid results, but it has also seen him transform into a strong lead-out rider, where he has helped his sprint finisher to five wins so far in the two seasons, with Welten using his strength and speed well as part of the sprint block. Looking ahead, Welten will bring those qualities to Team dsm-firmenich where he will also form part of the sprint lead-out as the team further strengthens that area.
Welten said: “I’m really looking forward to joining Team dsm-firmenich. The goals of the team match my personal goals well, working with the lead-out train and winning sprints together. I’ve admired the team for a while and I remember watching them take some incredible sprint wins at the biggest races; and that’s something I would like to achieve with the team as well. Those were special wins too as you could see the whole team had their noses pointing in the same direction, and that’s something important for me. I’m someone who likes to take care of others and I think that’s a quality that I can bring with me to the sprint group; helping as best as I can.”
Team dsm-firmenich head coach Rudi Kemna continued: “Bram is a strong and powerful rider. We’ve seen him take good results in sprints himself but also, he’s formed an important part of the lead-out on many occasions due to his speed and power. This is an area we want to further develop with him, and we think that through gaining experience with us and learning from those around him in our sprint group, then he can continue to grow into that role as one of our last lead-out men.”