WORLDTOUR

After the fantastic spectacle of last Wednesday – where Jasper Philipsen sprinted to win Stage 3 thanks to van der Poel’s lead-out – yesterday the Belgian rider reached a second victory during the final. Also this time, the support of his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate was decisive.

The overall race of Tirreno-Adriatico was won by Primoz Roglic, but with these two sprint victories Philipsen conquered the spotlight for next Saturday’s Milan-San Remo.

“We managed to be in a really good position thanks to all the motivation we had from the previous sprint stage – we knew we were able to do it again. The team and Mathieu again did an amazing job,” Philipsen said.

On Wednesday, the last 20 kilometres of Stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico 2023 was a rare spectacle. After a predictable battle disputed over almost 200 kilometres between the big ones of the different teams, the unexpected lead-out of Mathieu van der Poel brought Jasper Philipsen to victory. Paved his way by the Dutch teammate, Philipsen could end the race with a great sprint of 150 metres, making Alpecin-Deceuninck achieve its first victory of the season.

FENIX-Deceuninck will race Giro Donne 2023 in Verde Comodoro. The special edition jersey was revealed on Saturday when the team wore it for Strade Bianche, the first Italian Spring Classic of the season.

The iconic FENIX® colour was used for the first time in 2022 for the Alpecin-FENIX (now Alpecin-Deceuninck) kit at Giro d’Italia. This shade of green, which was inspired by the peacefulness of nature, proved once again to be very distinctive amid the white gravel and hilly scenery that characterise the Crete Senesi, where the 9^th edition of Strade Bianche Donne took place.

Strong performance by FENIX-Deceuninck with an solid 6^th place by Puck Pieterse, in her Women’s WorldTour debut and second road race of the season. A memorable day that also saw Yara Kastelijn finished 15^th and Christina Schweinberger 22^nd.

Once again, FENIX has chosen the path of innovation. Not just in the interior design sector, but also in the cycling world. After a successful three-year experience with a Pro Continental team, it is time to venture further in a sport that is evolving and making history. Starting January 1st, 2023, FENIX will be the main co-title sponsor of the FENIX-Deceuninck women’s team, previously named Plantur-Pura.

“We are proud to support the growth of a women’s team that has an innovative approach and shares a set of values that is aligned with our FENIX brand,” says Stefano Mion, CEO of Arpa Industriale, the company that created FENIX innovative materials for interior design.

The team was founded in 2020 with a roster of top cyclo-cross specialists, including Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, with the aim to offer an interesting road program during the spring and summer months before the cyclo-cross season. Two years later, it is a UCI Continental team with a roster of 22 cyclists that has raced Spring Classics and the first Tour de France Femmes. For 2023, FENIX-Deceuninck will be a UCI WorldTour team.

“The team is ready to take the next step and, with FENIX, we are committed to make it happen. This is a team that does not rely on talent alone and believes, as we do, that reaching the highest level requires hard work, dedication and a constant desire to improve. They focus on growth and long-term goals requiring rigor to reach the highest standards,” says Mion.

From January 2020 until July 2022, FENIX was the second name sponsor of the Alpecin-FENIX team, now Alpecin-Deceuninck. Since then, it has continued its support as an official partner.

“FENIX will remain a partner of the men’s team, but will focus on the women from January 1,” explains team manager Philip Roodhooft. “Deceuninck will extend its partnership with the men—as name sponsor—linearly to the women’s team. This allows both companies to make a difference as a brand, but they are also important for us in the further expansion of our complete structure, not only the women’s team. Also Alpecin, Canyon and Zwift keep engaging in all our ranks. All this allows us to follow the most ideal path, which is to offer women and men the same opportunities at the highest level.”

Now that both teams have been granted the UCI WorldTour license, their riders will be competing in the top-level races including Gran Tours, Monuments and Classics.

Jay Vine, the Australian rider of Alpecin-Deceuninck cycling team and 2020 Zwift Academy winner, is performing very well at La Vuelta 2022. Thanks to the two stages victories and other good placings, he is the current leader of the KOM classification with 40 pts ahead of the teammates Robert Stannard Jimmy Janssens, who is fourth.

Vine won stage 6 of La Vuelta, his first victory as a pro rider and his first in a Grand Tour. A very tough 181.2-km-long course, from Bilbao to San Miguel de Aguayo, that ended with the ascension of Pico Jano, a 12.6 kilometre-long climb. Through an intense fog, Jay Vine crossed first the finish line in 04 hours and 38 seconds, ahead of Remco Evenepoel, the current leader of La Vuelta general classification. It was an unexpected and epic victory!

Two days later Vine was able to win the stage 8 closing the race ahead of the Spanish rider Marc Soler. It was another race for the climbers: 153,4 kms from Pola de Laviana in Asturias to Colláu Fancuaya at 1,080 meters. Another impressive performance for the Australian.

La Vuelta is not finish yet and there are other mountains stages. We can’t wait to enjoy the next challenges.

It was a fantastic Tour de Wallonie for Robert Stannard who, thanks to his consistent performance, won the 2022 edition. What a great result for the 23-year-old Australian rider of Alpecin–Deceuninck!

The 2022 edition of the Tour de Wallonie, was held in the Belgian region of Wallonie from July 23^th to 27^th. On the Belgian roads, Stannard collected a third place on the initial stage, 174.4 kms from Templaux to Huy, , a fourth place on stage 2 and a wonderful second place on the last stage from Le Roeulx to Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont just behind the Belgian rider Bakelans.

Stannard’s performance let him lead both the general classification and the points classification. He also won the young rider classification. We couldn’t ask more from the young Alpecin–Deceuninck rider!

Jasper Philipsen sprinted to victory on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, for the final stage of Tour de France 2022. The Alpecin–Deceuninck rider crossed first the finish line in 02 hours, 58 minutes and 32 seconds, ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange – Jayco) and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche – Wanty – Grobert Materiaux).

This was the second victory for Philipsen in the Tour de France 2022, which was an extraordinary edition for the young Belgian rider. In addition to the two stages victories, he achieved a third place on the third stage from Vejle to Sønderborg in Denmark and two second places on stage 4 (Dunkerque-Calais) and stage 19 (Magnoac-Cahors).

Philipsen finished second in the points classification. We are all very proud of the Alpecin–Deceuninck riders’ performances. We can’t wait to follow the next challenges of the team.

Stage 15 of Tour the France was the race of the first times. Jasper Philipsen won his first ever stage at La Grande Boucle. It was also Alpecin-Deceuninck first victory in the edition of the Tour.

After eight top 3 results (2021 and 2022), the Belgian rider crossed first the finish line ahead of Wout van Aert, the leader of the points classification. Philispen won the stage 15 – 202.5 kms from Rodez to Carcassonne – thanks to a powerful final sprint proving once again that he is  one of the best sprinters in road cycling.

It was his first time on Tour and Philipsen was understandably emotional in the post-race interview. “It makes it super unbelievable,” he said of his previous misses. “I know what losing is like in the Tour de France. I was close many many times. That it worked out today is incredible. I can’t believe it.”

Congrats Jasper. You deserved this victory!

We are almost there. The Tour de France 2022, one of the awaited cycling Grand Tours of the year, starts from the roads of Copenaghen in Denmark. The 109^th edition of the La Grande Bouclecomprises 21 stages over the course of 23 days. After 3,328 kms the riders will close the path with the final stage of Paris, the 24^th of July.

The eight riders representing the newly renamed Alpecin- Deceuninck team are Van der Poel, Dillier, Krieger, Plankaert, Philipsen, Van Keirsbulck, Sbaragli and Gogl. While for the Austrian Michael Gogl this is his fifth Tour, it will be the first for Alexander Krieger and Guillaume van Keirsbulck.

For Mathieu van der Poel, the captain, is the second participation and he’s ready to repeat the great performance of the 2021 edition, where he wore the yellow jersey for six consecutive days. He dedicated the second stage victory to his grandfather, French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who participated 14 times at La Gran Boucle but never wore the yellow jersey. It was a very touching moment, and we can’t wait to see what Alpecin- Deceuninck riders will do during the 2022 edition.

Tim Merlier is the 2022 Belgian men’s elite national road champion after a thrilling final in the Middelkerke race. This is his second national title, after winning it in 2019 in Ghent (East Flanders).

Merlier closed the 208.7-kilometre race in Middelkerke with a terrific sprint among a large group of 30 riders. He crossed first the finish line in 4 hours 20 minutes and 49 seconds just ahead of Jordi Meeus (BORA-hansgrohe) and his Alpecin-FENIX teammate Jasper Philipsen, who was in the competition for the victory till the very end of the race.

Both the Alpecin-FENIX riders deserve the congratulations of all the team. We are eager to see the new challenges but now it’s time to celebrate the Merlier’s victory!