All images: Justin Britton
A lack of wins in 2024
Fenix-Deceuninck’s 2024 season was interesting, as despite some great results from the leaders, the team only managed to triumph twice throughout the season; a very low total.
Philip Roodhooft had to wait a long time to see one of his riders raise her arms last season. In fact, the first success of the year for Fenix-Deceuninck happened in August, on the biggest stage in the world: the Tour de France Femmes. This first win was achieved by one of the key riders of the team last season: Puck Pieterse. The Dutchwoman beat two riders that would be part of the final podium on Alpe d’Huez, in Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma, in a sprint following a hilly stage arriving in Liège. The 22-year-old, who is also one of the best riders on the cyclocross circuit, showed her ability to perform on all kinds of roads in 2024 with top 10s in Classics such as the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Trofeo Alfredo Binda, but also an eleventh-place finish in the Tour de France general classification.
The other key rider for Fenix-Deceuninck last year was Pieterse’s compatriot Pauliena Rooijakkers. At 31 years-old, the native of Venray had the best season of her career with two top 5s in Grand Tours: a fourth position at the Giro and third place at the Tour de France after a wonderful final stage that saw her finishing second at the top of Alpe d’Huez, beaten only by Demi Vollering.
These results, along with the good performances of Yara Kastelijn at the Ardennes Classics and the Vuelta and the consistency of riders such as Christina Schweinberger and Evy Kuijpers – who brought the second win of the year for the team – throughout the season allowed Fenix-Deceuninck to finish eleventh in the UCI classification, a good performance for a relatively young team.
A very calm winter
After a rather good season that simply lacked wins, Fenix-Deceuninck’s management team chose to keep almost the same group going into 2025. Indeed, only two new riders have been announced by the Dutch team since the beginning of the transfer window.
The first one will discover the World Tour level after spending almost all of her career at the level below. At 25 years old, Sara Casasola still hasn’t triumphed at the professional level, despite several top 10s throughout the years. The Italian mainly showed her puncheur capacities by playing the KOM jerseys, including the one she brought home from the Tour de Feminin in 2023.
The other recruit of Fenix-Deceuninck for 2025 graduates directly from the development team and could be a name to watch for the future. Indeed, Xaydee Van Sinaey has showed great things at Czech races last season, finishing in the top 10 of both Gracia and the Tour de Feminin. At only 19 years old, she is the youngest rider on Fenix-Deceuninck’s roster this season and could reveal her capabilities quicker than expected.
Puck Pieterse, the sensation of the peloton
For her first full year at the professional level, Puck Pieterse has answered a lot of questions about her level. Indeed, at only 22 years old, she is already one of the best riders in the peloton and it is hard to imagine the level she could reach in the next few years.
In 2023, Puck Pieterse made a major impact on the peloton as soon as her second race. When she took the start of the Strade Bianche, only cyclocross fans were aware of her and very few road cycling followers were expecting her to finish among the five best in Sienna. She then stopped her road season, stepping over to the mountain bike circuit, where she won three legs of the World Cup before being crowned European champion.
These results, along with those the Dutch rider achieved in cyclocross with a few World Cup wins, made Puck Pieterse the sensation of the peloton at the beginning of last season. Everyone was waiting to see her prove that her amazing Strade Bianche of the previous year was not a one-off lucky day. With only 18 days of road racing in 2024, the native of Amersfoort had everyone in agreement: she is a generational talent.
Though she did not take a victory during her first Classics campaign, she never placed lower than 13th during the spring. She finished her first Ronde van Vlaanderen in sixth place, after back-to-back third places at the Ronde van Drenthe and the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. After this block of races, she returned to her mountain bike to prepare for the Olympics. If fourth place in Paris was a disappointment for Pieterse, she overcame it quickly during her first ever Tour de France Femmes, where she won a hilly stage before winning the youth classification. She was even second on GC before the final stage, where she could not follow the rhythm of the best climbers.
Pieterse’s programme is not known yet but before taking on the road season she will first try to win her first rainbow jersey in the mud of Liévin at the beginning of February. Then, it would not be surprising to see her try to take her revenge in the Classics, with the hope of taking victory. It is not known if the Dutch rider will take on the MTB season this summer, making her participation at the Giro or La Vuelta doubtful.
Pauliena Rooijakkers leads the pack
In her first season with Fenix-Deceuninck, Pauliena Rooijakkers enabled the Dutch team to enter a new dimension in the mountains, especially in the Grand Tours. At 31 years old, the Dutchwoman still has a few years ahead of her to lead her team to new summits.
Just like her team, Rooijakkers is not a rider who wins a lot. Indeed, she has only counted two professional victories since 2017, the most recent being Durango-Durango in 2022. However, the rider of Venray has been extremely consistent in 2024, being present among the best from the UAE Tour to the Tour de Romandie. The Dutchwoman did not need a lot of time to adjust to her new environment, as she closed her first race with her new team in sixth place, establishing new levels for the season. After a Classics campaign where she managed a sixth position at the top of the Mur de Huy, Rooijakkers took on the first Grand Tour of the season: La Vuelta. There, she had a solid week with a strong fourth place on the final stage to finish the week in ninth, on almost the same time as her teammate Yara Kastelijn.
Two months later, when the Giro arrived, Pauliena Rooijakkers showed that she was the leader of Fenix-Deceuninck with a fourth place on Blockhaus that earned her the corresponding place in the overall classification. Finally, the Dutch rider closed the Grand Tour season in the best way possible, by finishing on the podium of the Tour de France Femmes, behind only Niewiadoma and Vollering.
Next season, Rooijakkers will enter the final year of her contract with Fenix-Deceuninck. If she manages to reprise her performances of the past year, she will have plenty of choices for her future. The presence of a great leader for the mountains in the team also helps the youngest riders to learn a lot, especially those whose speciality are the steep roads. The presence of Yara Kastelijn, who finished eighth at La Vuelta, could also be an additional weapon for Fenix-Deceuninck when the road will rise.
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