It's a first: the Unibet Rose Rockets have received an invitation to a Grand Tour for the first time. While they were left empty-handed for the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana for the 2026 season, the newcomers have now received a starting place for the Giro d'Italia, which will take place from 8 to 31 May 2026. "We are very grateful for the opportunity to ride our first Grand Tour," said team boss Bas Tietema. "The Giro is one of the most legendary races in cycling, to be part of it with the Unibet Rose Rockets is a milestone for our project."
YouTubers become team leaders
The team evolved from the Dutch YouTube project Tour de Tietema, with which Tietema and co-founders Devin van der Wiel and Josse Wester distributed videos from the perspective of cycling fans. In 2023, they founded the team, which developed quickly and signed several top professionals for the new season, including Tour stage winners Dylan Groenewegen, Wout Poels and Victor Lafay. In addition, 14-time Tour stage winner Marcel Kittel was brought in as sprint coach. The goals for the first appearance in a three-week stage race are correspondingly ambitious. "We don't just want to take part in the Giro. Our clear goal is to win a stage. The first stage stands out as an opportunity for a sprint and offers the chance to win the pink jersey. We want to be visible from day one, ride aggressively and make an impression," emphasises Tietema.
Regular guests from Italy
Unlike the Rockets, who were founded by Dutch riders but ride under a French licence, the two Italian teams Bardiani CSF 7 Saber and Polti-Visitmalta have already taken part in the tour in their home country several times. Nicola Boem, a professional from Bardiani, last won a Giro stage in 2015. The Polti racing team is a project of ex-pro and Giro and Tour winner Alberto Contador and is managed by his brother Francisco. Polti pro Davide Bais won a stage of the Tour of Italy in 2023. The third second-tier team from Italy, Solution Tech NIPPO Rali led by Vuelta stage winner Valerio Conti, did not receive an invitation. It was not among the top 30 in the world at the end of last year.
Cofidis renounces
The French team Cofidis, which as one of the three best-placed Pro teams based on the 2025 world rankings would have been entitled to a starting place, withdrew. As a result, only the Swiss pro teams Pinarello-Q36.5 and Tudor are in the race alongside the 18 teams with a World Tour licence thanks to sporting qualification. The Giro starts on 8 May in Bulgaria and leads over 21 stages and three rest days to the final stage on 31 May in Rome.
The list of teams at the start of the upcoming Giro d'Italia (possible starters in brackets)
The 18 automatically qualified World Tour teams
- ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH
- BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS
- DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM (Felix Gall)
- EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST
- GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED
- INEOS GRENADIERS
- LIDL-TREK
- LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ
- MOVISTAR TEAM
- NSN CYCLING TEAM
- RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE (Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari)
- SOUDAL QUICK-STEP (Mikel Landa, Paul Magnier)
- TEAM JAYCO ALULA (Pascal Ackermann)
- TEAM PICNIC POSTNL
- TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE (Jonas Vingegaard)
- UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG (Joao Almeida)
- UNO-X MOBILITY
- XDS ASTANA TEAM (Cristian Scaroni)
2 UCI ProTeams (qualified on the basis of the 2025 team rankings)
- PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM
- TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM (Marc Hirschi)
3 wildcards
- BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER
- TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA
- UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS (Dylan Groenewegen)
Andreas Kublik
Editor
