ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK

On its first participation in the Tour de France, the Flemish squad created in 2009 by brothers Philipp and Christoph Roodhoft made a strong and (almost) immediate impact. Originally known as BKCP–Powerplus, it took its first steps in cyclo-cross, in which it got acquainted with success thanks to Niels Albert, world champion in 2009 and 2012. It gradually expanded its activities to road cycling until in 2019 it became part of the Pro Continental category, a gateway to star-studded events, including the Grand Tours since 2021.
Ever since Albert's career came to an abrupt end in 2014, the team has bet the farm on Mathieu van der Poel, who, as a rider who takes part in cyclo-cross, road cycling and mountain biking, is the perfect fit for the squad. He had planned to make his début on the Tour de France after the 2020 Olympic Games, but when they were postponed for a year, this led to a change of plan. Consequently, he lined up at the start in Brest in 2021 with the firm intention of putting on the Yellow Jersey which had always been just out of reach of his grandfather Raymond Poulidor. It slipped through his grasp when Julian Alaphilippe won at the top of the Fosse aux Loups slope in Landerneau, but the Dutchman buckled down the following day to win the stage in Mûr-de-Bretagne.
On the third day of the race, the team showed that it was not just a structure built around van der Poel. Like at the Giro, Tim Merlier triumphed in the first bunch sprint, with none other than the Yellow Jersey as lead-out man in Pontivy. In Laval, MVDP again made an impression by valiantly defending his place as race leader on the time-trial, which, however, is not his speciality. He held on to the lead in the general classification ahead of Tadej Pogačar by eight seconds. As if that was not enough, he went on the offensive again, because that is just how he rides, during the longest stage, a genuine classic leading to Le Creusot, where right from the start he had one of those duels with Wout van Aert that spectators love. Once the Yellow Jersey was adorning the shoulders of Pogačar after the first day in the Alps, he slipped away to compete in the Olympic mountain bike race. There, he fell and failed to finish, but has the firm intention of returning to the Tour in 2022. In the meantime, he has also worn the pink jersey at the Giro.
Not exactly cut out for the mountains (but that may change with the arrival of former Australian mountain biker Jay Vine), the team rechristened Alpecin-Deceuninck from 1 July 2022 boasts another major asset in the form of sprinter Jasper Philipsen, the youngest rider on the 2019 Tour de France, a multiple stage winner on the Vuelta and mortified after losing out to Wout van Aert on the Champs-Elysées in 2021.