Profit warning for dsm-firmenich PostNL: "The importance of Welten's hand signals and Jakobsen has already been proven"

The mastermind behind their success is Roy Curvers, who was pivotal in Marcel Kittel's rise within Iwan Spekenbrink's team and now leads the sprint trains for the Dutch team. In a recent interview, Curvers spoke about the emerging talent, Casper van Uden. "Casper stepped up from the junior ranks and was given plenty of opportunities right away. The objective is to develop him, so expecting immediate results in such a situation isn't realistic. He's certainly making progress, occasionally proving he's among the fastest. His promise is encouraging, and he's definitely benefiting from racing alongside someone like Fabio Jakobsen," noted Curvers, acknowledging the positive impact of Jakobsen joining the team.

The uncertainty and disappointment that marked the team's performance last year, especially with Alberto Dainese and Sam Welsford as their lead sprinters, seemed a distant memory in Saudi Arabia at their first major race of the season. Van Uden managed to outpace rising sprint stars like Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla), Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X), and Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE-Team Emirates). His success was not just due to his own impressive speed but also owed much to the stellar setup work by his sprint lead-outs Bram Welten, John Degenkolb, and Nils Eekhoff in the crucial last ten kilometers.

With only 10.5 kilometers left to the finish, Matteo Sobrero (BORA-hansgrohe) outsmarted his opponent Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) in the final sprint for bonus points. Right after this, at 10.3 kilometers from the end, the DSM-Firmenich PostNL team came into view at the front for the first time. The strong six-man lineup secured a front position, which they were keen to keep.

With 8.0 kilometers remaining, we see a defining moment that showcases the Dutch team's determination for this stage. One of the riders from the orange-striped team moves up, gives a strong push to his teammate who is in the midst of his final efforts, and the group navigates through a roundabout and several hundred meters further, just as the riders from Jayco AlUla, supporting Dylan Groenewegen, experience a fall involving Alessandro de Marchi.

At exactly 6.0 kilometers from the finish, captain John Degenkolb takes over from compatriot Nikias Märkl, guiding his team towards an important 180-degree turn, just as two riders from Soudal Quick-Step perform a spectacular and useful bike switch behind them.

Four men (Degenkolb, Eekhoff, Welten, and Van Uden) emerge from that turn for DSM-Firmenich PostNL, but at that point there is still 5.5 kilometers to race. Co-pilot Welten sees this and signals his teammates with a visible hand gesture to stay calm. Having spent years setting up sprints at Arkéa Samsic and Groupama-FDJ, he knows how it's done.

A few hundred meters later, Degenkolb repositions himself on the right side of the road, precisely in one of the strategic positions a team aims for, known as "on the rope." The German leads until 4.2 kilometers from the finish, then it's Eekhoff's turn, who Jakobsen already highly respects in this role.

"Degenkolb, of course, is a treasure trove of experience, and then with Eekhoff, we have a mega engine," Jakobsen told this site at a training camp in January. "I'm used to working with Asgreen and Lampaert, and I see a lot of similarities there. I won't say it's just for spring races, but you see it in his prologues too: he can really drill for three kilometers, and you need guys like that in your sprint train."

Eekhoff maintains a strong position, though Van Uden gets into scuffles with Elmar Reinders (Jayco AlUla) and Gleb Syritsa (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and loses Welten's wheel at 2.7 kilometers from the finish. Even though Eekhoff and Welten perfectly enter a 90-degree turn as fourth and fifth with 1.8 kilometers to go, Van Uden isn't right behind them.

At 1.2 kilometers from the finish, there's a crucial 180-degree turn where all sprinters and their lead-outs want to be at the front. Eekhoff and Welten smartly hold their position, with the former frequently looking back to check if Van Uden has caught up. The lead sprinter manages to rejoin his team in an energy-efficient manner, and Eekhoff cleverly lets them take the lead into that critical turn, then slots in behind them, weaving through the peloton and the approaching sprinters. An impressive performance, just as Jakobsen said: from 4.2 kilometers to 1.2 kilometers from the finish, drilling for three kilometers.

Then it's Welten's turn, who at about 750 meters from the finish goes side by side with Reinders, while Groenewegen is still further back for Jayco AlUla. Welten notices this, guides Van Uden in, and then - in full effort - points to Groenewegen's lead-out Mezgec: "Get in that wheel, Casper."

Clever, but Mezgec is also smart. The Slovenian helper for Groenewegen looks back and spots something orange, but it's Van Uden, not his leader Groenewegen. For Mezgec, this means 'no effort,' and without accelerating, he drops back, forcing Van Uden to switch to the wheel of Molano's lead-out, Rui Oliveira.

The Portuguese, set up by his brother Ivo, goes full throttle with Van Uden on his tail. Molano, in turn, is right behind the Dutchman, while top favorites Merlier (caught in the wind) and Groenewegen (in the mix, as they say) aren't ideally positioned. Van Uden smoothly overtakes Oliveira and powers through the middle of the road, sustaining a formidable effort all the way to the finish. Despite a strong sprint from Groenewegen - who had to navigate his own path - Van Uden demonstrates his lead-out team is already in top form.

"We indeed had to make sure we were well positioned upfront," the winner acknowledged afterwards. "It was a tough battle for position. Sometimes I lost sight of the guys. Thankfully, they remained calm, and I found them again in the last kilometers. Then we executed one big move. They did that fantastically," he said, rightfully full of praise. "Last winter, I received complete trust from the team and did what I could. Everyone believed in me. Winning is great for me, but it's also for everyone in the team. I can't thank them enough."

Roy Curvers added, "As Hannibal from The A-Team would say: 'I love it when a plan comes together.' And that's what it was for us. We had a plan, and everyone stuck to it. It was beautiful to see how perfectly it was executed and how Casper finished it off."