Unibet Rose Rockets confirms '8' for their first ever Grand Tour - Dylan Groenewegen leads ambitious sprint train
CyclingWednesday, 29 April 2026 at 19:49
The 2026 Giro d'Italia begins to quickly gain shape as this Wednesday two teams have announced their lineups. After Uno-X Mobility announced it this morning, Unibet Rose Rockets have now revealed the eight riders that will race in the team's first ever Grand Tour.
The French team, based in the Netherlands, took the jump to ProTeam level two years ago and has the long-term plan of becoming one of the top teams in the sport. After a massive spree of signings in the winter of 2026, including the likes of former Tour de France stage winners Dylan Groenewegen, Victor Lafay and Wout Poels; European time trial championships podium finisher Niklas Larsen; Hamburg Cyclassic winner Rory Townsend and many more; the team looked to be part of the Tour de France.
However it was not selected, but it was the only team that didn't have a virtually guaranteed wildcard out of those in the UCI's Top30 rankings. That meant the Giro participation would later be confirmed, and there are high ambitions for it. Wout Poels comes in as the team's most experienced figure and will start his fifth Giro - which will also be his 26th Grand Tour. He will be the team's sole climber who will pursue stage wins in the mountains.
The focus is, without surprise, be Dylan Groenewegen. With the help of Marcel Kittel as a direct aid to the sprinter leadouts; the Dutchman has re-found his motivation this spring and has used it to take four wins - the latter a World Tour triumph at the Tour of Bruges.
He will be the team's absolute priority and an absolute favourite to take a sprint win during the 21 days of racing, supported by his leadout man Elmar Reinders and the many rouleurs that the team brings in. The previously mentioned Niklas Larsen, Tomas Kopecky and Slovakian classics specialist Lukas Kubis may all have a role in the leadout whilst also chasing stage wins on the explosive days of racing. The lineup is completed by Hartthijs de Vries and Karsten Larsen Feldmann.
Unibet Rose Rockets for 2026 Giro d'Italia
| Riders |
| Dylan Groenewegen |
| Hartthijs de Vries |
| Karsten Larsen Feldmann |
| Tomas Kopecky |
| Lukas Kubis |
| Niklas Larsen |
| Wout Poels |
| Elmar Reinders |
Our Giro d’Italia LINE-UP! 💕
— Unibet Rose Rockets (@rockets_cycling) April 29, 2026
🚀 With these 8 riders, we go all-in for that one goal: winning a stage in our first ever Grand Tour.
We’re ready for our biggest mission ever. MISSION GIRO! 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/awpHZ1YjAF
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- Lipo didn't really lose anything. Going all out - he'd likely be second behind Pogi in GC. Dodging the wind behind others - still second on GC. It also matters little if he is on Pogi's blacklist. Lipo is a GC rider. Pogi's never going to let another GC rider (blacklist or not) beat him in a stage if he can do anything about it. The last time Pogi lost time to a GC rival was the first ITT in the tour last year (RE), and before that Stage 11 in 2024 (JV)mobk29-04-2026
- If Lipowitz pulled in the break, all 4 of them would have moved further ahead in GC. It wasn't as if he was just there with Pogacar and thought he couldn't possibly win if he did a few turns. You only sit in if you can sprint, but he can't. It didn't do anything for Roglic either, if he's the Team leader. The outcome would have been the same if Lipowitz wasn't in the break. Maybe I've missed something, but seemed like bizarre tacticsPogthegoat29-04-2026
- Can you post the Alias family tree for us so we don’t mix everyone up please.Mistermaumau29-04-2026
- Let’s play the read between the lines game. If he signs with us, we’ll play it safe and wait a (few) year(s). If we discover he’s to sign elsewhere, we’ll make him ride it unless they pay us good money not to.Mistermaumau29-04-2026
- Nils Politt sees Florian Lipowitz as a bit of a 'Verrätter Lipowitz', because he left Laichingen in the Swabian Jura of Germany for Seefeld in Tirol in the Tyrolean Alps of Austria. His accent is Austrian, as is everything else about him except his birthplace
Rafionain-Glas29-04-2026 - It's less protecting Roglič as a team leader and more relying on Roglič's sprint. Red Bull Bora hansgrohe have explicitly stated that Lipowitz is their leader and that Roglič adds depth (didn't say support). If I were Roglič I'd go to the smaller races to get 100 wins and then retire.Rafionain-Glas29-04-2026
- I sympathise with Carapaz. I had one of those cysts when I started cycling in my teens. It grew to the size of a golf ball. It eventually needed surgery. A 10 centimetre long incision was needed to clear it out and it then needed a drain. I still have the scar. The recovery was long. I couldn't sit on a saddle for the best part of a year So good luck with your recovery and get well soon Richard.Cyclingsbestfan29-04-2026
- You dont need AI to tell you - BETTER CALL PAULabstractengineer29-04-2026
- Usually not to pull. But there will be circumstances where it makes sense to collaborate with the world champion.mobk29-04-2026
- Today's race is an example of why Chris Horner's BS tactics of never pulling with Pogi is suicide in the long run. Pogi gave Lenny a mountain jersey, but UAE won't pull if Nordhagen is the best in a breakaway and Lipowitz will never take a stage win in a race where Pogi is. Pogi might still forget and forgive him, but the german giant Nils Politt won't. Now, is it better to pull or not with the G.O.A.T.🐐?M-cOnstitUtion29-04-2026
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