WORLDTOUR

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.