Team dsm-firmenich are happy to announce that three talented Dutch riders will join their Men’s program as of next year: Gijs Leemreize, Timo Roosen and Bram Welten. Forming part of the sprint group, an area the team aims to continue to build on, Roosen is contracted through 2026 while Welten will ride in the two-stripes for 2024. Leemreize will join the GC group, where he is contracted through until the end of 2025.

Photo Credit: Freddy Guérin / DirectVelo

Gijs Leemreize

Still only 23-years-old, Leemreize is a talented young Dutch climber who has made his way steadily through the ranks, picking up impressive results since turning pro at the beginning of the 2021 season. That year he had a solid start to his campaign before leading the Dutch national selection where he climbed with the very best to a strong fourth place on GC at the end of ten tough stages. Backing up that later in the campaign he proved again to be one of the best U23 riders by taking a stage win and the overall at the challenging Ronde de l’Isard. 2022 saw Leemreize continue to take steps and make his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d’Italia where he was one of the most attacking riders of the whole race; taking a second and third place, plus three further top tens from impressive rides in the breakaway. Following that he took a fifth place on GC at the Sibiu Cycling Tour, before consistent performances at the Deutschland Tour, Okolo Slovenska and CRO Race. An injury set back Leemreize at the start of this season, but he has returned to racing and performed well in a support role, as he looks to build and return to fighting at the pointy end of races in the coming seasons.
 

Click here for quotes from Leemreize and coaching staff.  

Photo Credit: Cor Vos

Timo Roosen

The experienced Roosen has been a professional since 2015, plying his trade as a strong and industrious lead-out rider but also as someone who is adept in the one-day classics too where he has performed well in support of others, or has taken his own opportunities such as a win at the Ronde van Zeeland in 2017 from an attacking group. Roosen’s strength on the bike on the flatter terrain is also coupled with an astute tactical awareness, particularly in the fast finales where he’s been able to guide his various sprint finishers into position where they’ve been able to take well over 30 wins so far in his career. With his strength in the classics too, Roosen can also handle the short punchy climbs and that was more than evident when he took the Dutch national road race title over a testing course in 2021. Forming an integral part of the sprint group within the team while also joining up with the classics group, Roosen will be aiming to add to that tally of wins.
 

Click here for quotes from Roosen and coaching staff.  

Photo Credit: Freddy Guérin / DirectVelo

Bram Welten

Hailing from Tilburg in the Netherlands, Welten has progressed up the cycling ladder from ProContinental level to WorldTour in recent years, after a strong campaign as an U23 rider where he took success at Triptyque Monts Châteaux, Tour de Bretagne and GP Criquielion. Someone with a fast kick, Welten has impressed with many places of honour in fast-finishing one-day races in his time so far as a pro with numerous top fives and a brilliant win at the Tour de Vendée in 2021 after a windswept edition of the race. More recently after his step up to the WorldTour, Welten continued to pick up solid results, but it has also seen him transform into a strong lead-out rider, where he has helped his sprint finisher to five wins so far in the two seasons, with Welten using his strength and speed well as part of the sprint block. Looking ahead, Welten will bring those qualities to Team dsm-firmenich where he will also form part of the sprint lead-out as the team further strengthens that area.
 

Click here for quotes from Welten and coaching staff.