Cycling: The German team Sunweb will be on the road under the name DSM in the coming season. However, some well-known professionals are no longer there. After a surprisingly strong year, 2021 could be disappointing for DSM.
Sunweb 2020: Strong in the Grand Tours
If you ask the group which team overperformed in the 2020 season, the name Sunweb comes up quite often. Before the start of the season it was not to be expected that the German team would achieve 16 wins and 41 more podium places. Some professionals have surpassed themselves in a way that was not to be expected before the start of the season. Jay Hindley finished the Giro d'Italia in 2nd place overall and celebrated 4 wins this season. Marc Hirschi won the Flèche Wallonne and a stage of the Tour de France, was also awarded the most combative rider. And also Soren Kragh Andersen cheered four times. Added to this is 4rd place in the Giro d'Italia Wilco Kelderman. Michael Matthews also drove a strong last season for Sunweb. All in all, the team management must be absolutely satisfied with this performance.
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Sprints, classics, Grand Tour stages - it's safe to say our Men's program absolutely smashed it this year!👏🏻 #KeepChallenging
📸CorVos pic.twitter.com/KeA8SCTS59
— TeamDSM (@TeamDSM) December 30, 2020
Transfers: DSM is weaker than Sunweb
In the coming season, Team Sunweb will be on the road under the name DSM. A few significant transfers not only changed the look of the team, but also the orientation. With wilco kelderman and Sam Oomen two strong climbers leave the German racing team. The former was one of the old hands in the team, the latter is considered a huge talent. The contracts of Michael Matthews and Marc Hirschi were dissolved completely surprisingly before the end of the contract - probably at the request of the team management. To this day, it is unclear exactly what the problems were. However, it is not the first time that Iwan Spekenbrink's team has allowed drivers to leave early. For 2021, among other things, the German talents Marco Brenner and Nicholas Markl to the team. The Norwegian has a lot of potential Andreas Leknessund said. And also on the American Kevin Marks we can be excited. As a royal transfer, however, the obligation of Romain Bardet sold. The now 30-year-old Frenchman has been chasing his form for years. He most recently won a race at WorldTour level in July 2017.
DSM 2021: It can only go downhill
The 2021 season is unlikely to be successful for the DSM team. With Jay Hindley you have a huge talent in the squad, but that the 24-year-old can repeat his results from the previous year in a normal season is rather unlikely. The breakthrough of Marco Brenner, Adnreas Leknessund and some other talents in the squad should still be a long time coming. So the more experienced professionals have to get the coals out of the fire. However, we no longer find many winning drivers at DSM. Soren Kragh Andersen will not be so easily let go in the future when he starts an attack. Chris Hamilton, Nico Denz and Nickias Arndt are good for isolated wins but cannot carry the team through an entire season. sprinter Cees Bol is still a bit removed from an absolute top sprinter and also Tiesj Benoot has been waiting for the next step for around two years now. old master Romain Bardet can finish in the top 10 at a Grand Tour, but you just can't trust the Frenchman anymore. Ultimately, the question remains: Who should bring in the successes for DSM that Sunweb was able to celebrate before?
You can find the complete squad of Team DSM HERE.
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A closer look at our 2021 kit and its cutting-edge technologies such as @DSM @dyneema.👌🏻 #KeepChallenging #TheBestWeAllCanBe pic.twitter.com/XQzmdgNSlb
— TeamDSM (@TeamDSM) January 5, 2021