We have now known for several months that the 2025 season will be the last of Romain Bardet. In fact, the Frenchman announced that he would end his career after Critérium du Dauphiné 2025, i.e. June 15. But, as has just been announced by his formation of Team Picnic PostNLhe will first take part in the Tour of Italy (09/05 – 01/06), his last career Grand Tour. It will be accompanied in particular by Max Poolewhich will also The Return (08/23 – 09/14) at the end of the year. On the Tour de Francethe Dutch team will be built around the sprinter Fabio Jakobsenbut also stage hunters Oscar Onley et Frank van den Broek.
Video – Romain Bardet elected best Frenchman of the 2024 season
“Being up to the challenge of the 2024 Tour de France will be difficult…”
Chief Sports Director of Team Picnic PostNL, Rudi Kemna spoke about his team's ambitions for the 2025 season: “At the Giro d'Italia, we really want to show ourselves as a team and play our part in the race every day. In the fight for the general classification, we will aim to race intelligently and tactically, while continuing to evaluate the evolution of the race over the stages We will also focus on the stage results when the opportunities present themselves. [Bardet]who will participate in his last Grand Tour as a professional, and Max [Poole] as our leaders for the demanding mountain stages, while Casper [van Uden] will make its three-week debut, supported by a good launch train to aim for stage results in the sprints.”
“Being up to the task of the 2024 Tour de France will be difficult, but we will go to this race again with a primary focus on stage wins. In the hillier and more mountainous terrain we will have a strong group of attackers, like Oscar [Onley] and Frank [van den Broek]. We want to progress with Fabio [Jakobsen] at the start of the season, then head to the Tour de France with confidence, targeting the flat sprints with him as a finisher, supported by Tobias [Lund Andresen].”
“We hope that Max will have learned a lot from the experience gained at the Giro. With ideal preparation, we will see again where we can position him in the general classification at the end of the Vuelta. This will also be an opportunity for several of our others young talents to make their debut in a Grand Tour and to learn the demands of a three-week race, where we will seek every day to achieve the best possible result.”
