Unibet Tietema Rockets reveals new name, new official language and new identity: "So the whole world can follow our story"

TDT - Unibet Cycling Team no longer exists. Since January 1, Bas Tietema, Devin van der Wiel, and Josse Wester have been riding under the name Unibet Tietema Rockets. This was a drastic decision for the team because not only did that change, but the team's identity and international ambition also changed accordingly.

"We have made a drastic decision. We are going to do something that has never been done before in cycling," Tietema says in the announcement video on YouTube. "As of January 1, we changed our name to the Unibet Tietema Rockets. Many people have asked: why did you change your name? Why 'the Rockets'? And why suddenly in English? In this video, we will explain everything."

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The old name and colors of the team

'The Rockets' is a franchise name that will never change

Ever since its beginning, the cycling team has been built on its fans; this, of course, does not change. Tietema: "We believe that we do everything for the fans. In cycling, it is normal to suddenly change your team colors or even your team's name. In our view, that makes it difficult to build an identity that people understand. Our philosophy is creating a fan base that follows our team, journey, and goals."

It is the reason the team chooses consistency. "That's why we chose consistent team colors and a durable team name. This allows us to maintain our identity as a team. You can think of the name 'The Rockets' as our franchise name; it will never change no matter who the sponsor is," Tietema says.

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Bas Tietema

'The Rockets' created by Harmeling and then turned into a verb

Van der Wiel explains why 'The Rockets' was chosen. "We may partly owe that to a certain Tour de France stage winner: Rob Harmeling. In our first season, we used to ride a particularly colorful bike, and Rob quickly named that bike the Rocket, named after the ice cream. Since then, we have used that name more often. In team meetings, Rob says, 'We're going Rocket!' And we've even made a verb from it: 'To Rocket' - meaning we go at full speed as a team."

But take it further: Van der Wiel says the name represents the whole team's spirit. "So when we thought about a completely new team identity, it didn't take long for 'The Rockets' to pop into our heads. It represents the speed at which this organization is growing, the innovation we want to bring, and the most to accomplish such a mission. But above all, dream big because, without big dreams, we would never have put a man on the moon."

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Goals for true astronauts

English has become the official language on all channels

With the significant identity change comes an entire rebranding. Both the social media channels and the YouTube page have new colors. This also changes the team's Dutch identity. "The official language within the team will be English, and so will our social media and YouTube videos. That way, the whole world can follow the story of 'The Rockets,'" Van der Wiel says.

Finally, the team is dreaming big, as might be expected after such a rebranding. Their goals launch them as high as possible. "The story started two years ago as a Continental Cycling Team, founded from a YouTube channel. Since then, we have achieved many highlights, such as riding the Amstel Gold Race. But as we see it, this is only the beginning. We dream big, we dream of the Tour de France. To get there, we are making significant progress in our sports organization this year. We hope to announce our first wildcard soon so we can compete at the highest level of cycling," Tietema concludes in the video.

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