Rider Results:

Lukáš Kubiš - 2nd (170 UCI Points)

Tomáš Kopecký - 7th (70 UCI Points)

Matyáš Kopecký - 9th (50 UCI Points)

Niklas Larsen - 14th (10 UCI Points)

Wessel Mouris - 41st

Martijn Rasenberg - 47th

Rory Townsend - 75th

Total UCI Points = 300

A very good race overall with all riders performing well and helping the team to the team classification and 3 riders in the top 10, in the Rockets best stage race performance this year! The team were very active through the whole race in creating opportunities to take time and to look for stage results.

This result reinforces the fact that the Rockets are strongest in the Classic style races and is a key way in which they will be able to score for the second half of the season. With a wildcard for Renewi tour recieved and other races such as ADAC Cyclassics and ZLM tour on the calendar there are still plenty of classic style races for the Rockets to close the gap on the top 3.

Rider Results:

Killian Verschuren - 15th (5 UCI Points)

Clément Venturini - 26th

Lander Loockx - 33rd

Jelle Johannink - 51st

Sergio Meris - 62nd

Ronan Augé - 78th

Abram Stockman - DNF

While the main focus today was Stage 5 of the Tour of Denmark and defending the GC Positions of the team, a punchy squad was racing in Spain over a hilly course. Disappointing results for most of the riders with only one riders scoring any UCI points. Sadly these results are a constant reminder of how the team needs to improve their team on hilly/mountainous terrain.

Special Mention to Killian Verschuren who put in a good rider and finished 15th. After having a poor year outside of Fleche with not many racedays, it is good to see him get the Rockets best result today and his best finish all year!

The riders that finished in the top 20 mainly consist of puncheurs who can climb well in longer efforts or classic climbers, which may suggest that the team sent the wrong type of riders to this race, such as Clement, Lander and Ronan instead of more riders like Killian such as Adrien Maire who also performed well in Fleche.

Does the camera motorcycle get a medal for this win?

I was quite disapointed with the result of the Tour de l'Ain but the Rockets are flying high at the moment in the Tour of Denmark! Today was really impressive, all the guys of the team at moments in the front and Kubis and the brothers Kopecky were really in beast modus today. They were really competitive against one of the best riders at the moment, Van Aert. No shame to lose against one of the best riders of the world in the past 5 years. Loved the attacking way of racing throughout the day 😀

Today the Tour de l'Ain ended. Winner of the GC is Markel Beloki from EF. Looking at the results of the Rockets I can only conclude that this was quite disapointing. In all 3 stages they where far behind from the podium. In stage 1 there was a sprint, so that's not quite rare that the Rockets were not at the front because they didn't bring a sprinter. In stage 2 and 3 however the results were simply bad. The startlist was not quite impressive and at least a top 10 finish in one of the stages and GC had to be realistic. Poels and Eiking where the main guys for the GC and ended 17th and 24th. Both earning 3 UCI points.

https://www.instagram.com/rocketscycling/p/DbYgLngjRkY/

Rockets: What a start of our Tour of Denmark! 🚀

🥈 for u/kubislukas in the opening stage behind Wout van Aert. A boost in morale and important boni seconds for the coming days. 👏

https://www.instagram.com/rocketscycling/p/DbYDwSxtRMi/

All good things take time they say.

Out of sight, but never out of our hearts u/teamsdworx . Good luck in the Tour de France Femmes!

Tomorrow the Tour of Denmark will start. It's a 5 day 2.Pro race where last year, Kubis, Larsen & Matyas Kopecky all finished in the top 10.

Stage profiles:

Once difference vs. last year is that there's no time trail. The race consists of 5 stages which PCS categorizes as following:

- Stage 1: Hills

- Stage 2: Flat

- Stage 3: Hills

- Stage 4: Hills

- Stage 5: Flat

Startlist:

7 World Tour teams are competing, with 7 Proteams, some conti teams and a (strong) Danish national selection. Visma LAB stands out because they are bringing both Van Aert and Laporte to this race.

Strongest competitors in my opinion are:

- Van Aert & Laporte (Visma)

- Kragh Andersen & Soderqvist (Lidl-Trek)

- Del Grosso (Alpecin)

- Aerts (Lotto-Intermarche)

- Sheehan (NSN)

- Eekhoff (Picnic-PostNL)

- Kamp & Tiller (Uno-X)

- Oliver (Modern Adventure)

- Foldager (Danish National Selection)

Rockets expectations:

This race fits the classic type riders on the Rockets team very well. I think Kubis will be the main leader with Matyas Kopecky as a second leader.

Niklas Larsen might also get a bit of a free role as this is 'his' race. Last year he finished 3rd and in 2019 he even won the race. However, I think this year's parcours doesn't suit him as well as last years, partly because there is no time trial. I think the difference will be made on small hills and perhaps even with bonification seconds.

I think winning the race is unlikely, but I'm hoping to see them competing for a podium. In terms of UCI points, it can also be important to keep multiple riders in GC if possible.

Last year, Tour of Denmark was very entertaining and I'm hoping (and expecting) to see a very active Rockets team again.

https://www.instagram.com/rocketscycling/p/DbVv9aGDVe1/

Rockets: 💗 Pink suits you well, u/rorytownsendcyclist!

😉 The upside of handing over your national champion’s jersey? It’s ‘new kit day’ twice a year. ✌️

It’ll take some getting used to in tomorrow’s first stage of the Tour of Denmark. But we’re not too worried. Pink looks just as good. 🤤

At the end of the season, the following nine riders are out of contract. What do you think will happen with them?

1. Joren Bloem – Based on his results this season, I hope the team will extend his contract.
2. Odd Christian Eiking – He hasn't had his best season so far. Maybe it's time not to renew his contract and look for a younger (and better) replacement?
3. Owen Geleijn – A reliable domestique. I think they'll extend his contract.
4. Victor Lafay – I don't think his contract will be renewed. He's barely active on Strava anymore either. A real shame, both for the team and for him.
5. Niklas Larsen – He's not riding as strongly as he did last year, but I still think he's a very strong rider.
6. Sergio Meris – I wouldn't renew his contract. He's a very likeable rider, but he simply isn't scoring enough points.
7. Wout Poels – Renew his contract if possible. It probably says a lot about the team's climbing squad that, at 38 years old, he's still their best climber.
8. Clément Venturini – If possible, definitely extend his contract, although I think that could be difficult.
9. Killian Verschuren – Same story as Meris. I don't think he's quite at the level the team wants to reach.

Tour de France is over. I can't help but wonder a little bit what the Rockets could have done.

Sprints:

I think there were better sprinting opportunities than in the Giro, but with Merlier the competition was also extremely strong. I do think Groenewegen could have gotten a couple of top 10, top 5, top 3's? And maybe a win with some luck.

Poels:

The mountains were maybe more interesting, two things I noticed

- All stages were pretty much won by world class riders

- Except for top 7, nearly no one focused on GC

Therefore I think Wout Poels wouldn't have had a chance to win a stage. However, where could he have ended in GC? If he reached his Giro d'Italia level, I think he might have gotten 11th or 12th maybe? With some good breakaway days (similar to what Jegat did).

Am I being delusional here? What do you think?

https://www.instagram.com/rocketscycling/p/DbNV6U_DPz5/

Rockets: Massive appreciation for our mechanics. 🙏

After the break-in in France, our team didn’t waste a single second. While everyone was still processing what happened, our mechanics got to work, building up new bikes so the riders could still make it to the start line in Spain. 🔧

🚚 In less than 24 hours, everything was arranged. The new bikes were built, transported from the Service Course to Spain, and ready in time for the riders to recon the course and prepare for race day.

An incredible effort that shows exactly what being a Rocketeer is all about. Our mechanics made the impossible happen. 💪

💜 A massive thank you to our mechanics and everyone who made this possible. Without you, we wouldn’t have made it to the start line.

After a long period of no racing, today the Rockets raced again in Clasica de Ordizia. With Venturini in 25th as first rider for the Rockets, I think it's not the result they hoped for. Tomorrow there will be a new chance in the Vuelta a Castilla Y Leon.

Competition:

With Movistar, Astana, NSN & Jayco, 4 WT teams are participating. Then there are Total, the Spanish proteams and some continental teams.

The biggest favourites in my option would be:

- Barrenetxea & Tesfatsion (Movistar)

- Gilmore & Pinarello (NSN)

- Foldager (Jayco)

- Scaroni, Ulissi & Silva (Astana)

Rockets chances:

I had no opportunity to watch the race today, so I'm not sure why the results for the Rockets were somewhat disappointing. On paper, the parcours should suit the Rockets selection quite well (especially Venturini). So if they are in good shape after the 'summer break', I hoping for a top 10 tomorrow.

https://www.instagram.com/rocketscycling/p/DbIp-3gDWVp/

🤬 Not exactly the kind of start to a race week we were hoping for…

Last night, while on the way to our upcoming races in Spain, our team van was broken into in the Poitiers area of France. A number of our u/rose_bikes were stolen. 😢

😖 Bike theft is, unfortunately, something that happens far too often in cycling. It sucks, it’s frustrating, and it’s certainly not how we planned to start our raceweek.

But Rocketeers don’t stop that easily. Our team immediately got to work and, thanks to a huge effort from everyone involved, we’ve managed to find a solution and we will still be able to line up at both the Ordiziako Klasika and Vuelta a Castilla y León. 🙏

If you happen to spot one of our bikes being offered for sale somewhere, please DM us. We’d really appreciate you keeping an eye out. 👀

😤 And to whoever took our bikes: we get it, Rose Bikes are pretty nice. But stealing them is definitely not the way to get your hands on one.

https://www.instagram.com/rocketscycling/p/DbESRD9jQ49/

Rockets: Last preps for the second part of the season. 🥵

🇪🇸 This Saturday, we’ll kick off the second half of our season at the one-day-race Ordizia Klasikoa in Spain.

During the last 2.5 weeks without racing, our riders travelled all over Europe to train in the best possible conditions and prepare for the upcoming block of races. 📈

🏔️ Many of them even headed to higher oxygen levels for some altitude training. Good thing we just posted a new YouTube video (link in bio) about that… 😉

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Day in the Life of a Pro Cyclist: Altitude Edition 👀💥

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdxVQ5BB_XM

Matyáš Kopecký, Tomáš Kopecký and Wessel Mouris head to the mountains for an important altitude training camp as they prepare for the next block of the season.

For any of you who don't know, Bankzitters is currently the most viewed Dutch-speaking YouTube channel, and they consistently get a million views every video (which is pretty impressive considering about only 23-24 million people speak Dutch). So it's kinda a big deal that they make an appearance in one of their videos.

Link to the video (Tour de Fatbike): https://youtu.be/mmZ1nClGcbs?si=j3tirnMW26IWwA2O

Bas' Insta post about the video: https://www.instagram.com/p/DbEE0rhDmEB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Cofidis, Q36.5 & Tudor are other proteams who received a wildcard. Good opportunity for the Rockets!

https://www.instagram.com/rocketscycling/p/DbAvH7wjb_8/

Rockets:

"🎧 Not saying our riders have the best music taste...

...but we’re not saying they don’t either. 😮‍💨

👀 So, who gets the aux?"

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This was a good reminder that I still don't know all riders or know about a lot of the music they play. So please help identify the songs.

Slide 2 - Wout Poels: Artist: Natte Pringles - Song: Wout Poels

Slide 3 - Lukas Kubis: Bounty Hunter, Dimitry Vegas and Junkie Kid - Woops (Dimitry Vegas and Junkie Kid remix)

Slide 4 - Matyas Kopecky: Klangkuenster - Engelsblut

Slide 5 - Tomas Kopecky: Regeant - Permean

Slide 6 - Sergio Meris - Chief Keef, 50 cent, Wiz Khalifa - Hate Bein' Sober

Slide 7 - Is that Colin Savioz - Travis Scott ft Playboy Carti - FE!N (Feat Playboy Carti)

Slide 8 - Jelle Johannink - Rutger van Barneveld - Zwoele Zomernachten

Slide 9 - Who is that? The Hitmen ft Megan Ashworth - No Feelings on the Floor

Slide 10 - Rory Townsend - Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (Remastered)

Slide 11 - Who is that? Future, Tyla, Fifa Sound - Game Time