Team dsm-firmenich PostNL are thrilled to reveal that the talented final year juniors Anton Louw Larsen and Pavel Sumpik will make the step-up to the U23 category next year with their Development program. Both Louw Larsen and Sumpik will wear the two-striped jersey through to at least 2026.

Anton Louw Larsen

Danish talent Louw Larsen comes from the city of Roskilde in Denmark, a place where he has honed his abilities over his junior career with his local team. 2023 saw consistent performances from the then first-year junior, as Louw Larsen climbed to eighth overall at the Ster van Zuid-Limburg where he also helped his teammate to overall victory. Other strong results followed with a sixth at Omloop van Borsele Juniors or third place at Trofeo P.Merelli Juniors. Alongside that, he took part in the extensive Danish calendar, winning Din Bilpartner Iøbet Juniors and a further seven top tens. In the beginning of 2024, Louw Larsen built into the season before taking his first win at De Fokker Slag Om Woensdrecht which was swiftly followed by stage glory against strong opposition at Course de la Paix Juniors. The summer saw Louw Larsen once again show his consistency with multiple top tens, before he raised his arms aloft once more at GP Rüebliland Juniors where he won a reduced sprint finish on stage three, going on to finish that race third overall.

Click here for quotes from Louw Larsen and coaching staff.   

Photo Credit: Jan Brychta

Pavel Šumpík 

Hailing from Czechia, Šumpík took the junior road racing scene by storm in 2024, but it was the strong building blocks in his opening year as a junior in 2023 which laid the foundations for his impressive campaign this year. Winning a race at Jevicko, he then went on to claim the national time trial title in dominant fashion before showing his talents against some of the best juniors in the world at Medzinárodné Dubnica nad Váhom where he won against the clock once more. A consistent end of 2023 saw Šumpík pick up a smattering of further top tens, before his attention turned to this year. Starting off in brilliant fashion, Šumpík won his first race of the season; the opening time trial at Ster van Zuid-Limburg where he also went on to finish third overall. Going from strength-to-strength Šumpík's stellar season has continued throughout 2024 where he has taken a whopping 17 wins, whether that be individual stages or overall titles, plus multiple other podium results, top tens and other jersey classification wins.
 

Click here for quotes from Šumpík and coaching staff.