dsm-firmenich PostNL gears up for Vuelta with Dutch talent and confident leaders

dsm-firmenich PostNL has announced the eight riders for the Vuelta a España, which starts this Saturday in Portugal. The Dutch team will bring five Dutch riders to the Spanish race, primarily to support their leaders, Max Poole and Pavel Bittner, who both showed strong form in the recent Vuelta a Burgos and will start the Vuelta with confidence.

Poole and Bittner will be supported by Dutch riders Julius van den Berg, Martijn Tusveld, Tim Naberman, Enzo Leijnse and Gijs Leemreize, while the Australian Chris Hamilton will be particularly important for Poole in the mountains.

Phil West, the team's coach, shared his excitement: "We’re really looking forward to coming back to the Vuelta this year, especially after having such a good experience last year," he said, referring to their stage win in the team time trial on the first day. "This season we once again bring a balanced squad that includes some debutants and guys with more experience. We hope to be competitive with our young gun Max, who’s coming back from a challenging year but has shown good legs recently at Vuelta a Burgos. We will support him as he tests himself for the first time in the GC at a grand tour."

"Alongside that, we will aim for results in the sprint stages with Pavel as our finisher, who also showed he’s in form at Burgos, where he took his first pro win. We want to be engaged in the race from the get-go and try to take our chances where we see them. There will be days where we will look for the break, but equally on other days it means we will go hunting for the stage results. In any case, at all times, we'll make sure Max is protected."

West has already analyzed the course: "After the opening time trial, we have a couple of sprint chances with Pavel before stage four, which should see the GC guys do battle and from there our race will take shape, especially after the end of week one and the tough mountain finish. We’ve taken some positive steps the past week in Burgos, with some really nice results and strong riding as a group, so we will look to continue and build on that over the next three weeks," he concluded.

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Poole hopes to prove himself during the three weeks of the Vuelta

Team leader Max Poole is also eager to get started: "Last year, overall we had quite a nice three weeks and came away happy with how it went. Obviously, it was the perfect start with the win in the team time trial and then we added another win towards the end of the race. The morale in the group was good, and we worked really well together, so it was a nice way to experience my first grand tour last season. We also overcame the usual challenges of a three-week race like illness and crashes well together as a team."

All those experiences are now helping him. "I’m looking forward to coming back to the race again this year and I know a bit more what to expect from the Vuelta. It’s a super hard route this year, starting with the time trial in Lisbon. Hopefully we can have a good start before an exciting three weeks with the team. It will be a big challenge to see how I can go in the GC battle and see if I can stay there, and hopefully come through well towards the end of the race."

"We have a nice team and have had a good week already in Burgos; both with some nice results but also how we’re getting on as a group and riding together. If we keep working on the level that we have been in Burgos and get some nice results along the way, then we can leave the race happy. I think the overall feeling, not just for me but for the team, is excitement. It will be a hard race and a big fight as always, so we just need to stay focused and keep going together all the way until Madrid," Poole said.

dsm-firmenich PostNL selection Vuelta a Espana 2024

Max Poole
Chris Hamilton
Gijs Leemreize
Martijn Tusveld
Julius van den Brg
Tim Naberman
Enzo Leijnse
Pavel Bittner