Lukas Kubis on Rockets’ rise and Tour de France dream - ‘If there’s a Tour, I want to win a stage’

It’s fair to say that Lukáš Kubiš made a statement during his opening campaign with the Unibet Rose Rockets in 2025. The Slovakian was the Rockets' highest points scorer in the UCI rankings, with nearly five times more points than any other rider on his team, demonstrating his value. The 25-year-old ended the season 60th in the UCI rankings, and also as the 9th highest ProTeam-level rider and the highest rider from a team who weren't invited to a Grand Tour.

However, whilst Kubiš may have been the headline act, his humility shone through as he illustrated great appreciation and admiration for his teammates, crediting the atmosphere that had been created and helped enable him to thrive.

“It was a really nice season. I really enjoyed it, especially in the team because the chemistry is great, and in the group of the guys, it was so perfect to race with them and to achieve nice results with them together,” said Kubiš when reflecting on his debut season with the Rockets. “I'm so grateful for all the work and all the help they gave me for the whole season. It was a big one, I think.”

Sometimes connections just click from the get-go, and Kubiš was quick to make his mark, becoming the only rider in 2025 to finish in the top 10 of Omloop Nieuwsblad (6th), Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (9th), and Ename Samyn Classic (10th) in the early-season cobbled classics.

“When I was a kid, it was just a dream to be there in these big races, and when I was there, I wanted to achieve something nice,” said Kubiš.

The team’s YouTube channel captured the moment that Kubiš sprinted to 6th place at Omloop Nieuwsblad, the first WorldTour race of his life, and in the heat of the moment, the Slovakian was actually disappointed with his final sprint, illustrating the ambition and high standards he sets himself, which have enabled him to reach the heights he has as a professional athlete. 

“It was sixth place in the Omloop, the first WorldTour race of my life, and I was so sad at first, I think everybody saw it in the video on YouTube,” said Kubiš, who admitted that after a short period of reflection, he could look on his performance with great pride.

“But after an hour or so, I was so happy about how it was my first WorldTour race, and I was sixth,” said Kubiš, who continued to thrive in the early season Classics following this breakthrough result.

“Then, like you said, Kuurne the next day, also ninth, I think that the sprint was not so ideal for me. I was boxed on the side, but yeah, this is cycling and that can happen in a sprint. So it was a really nice start to the season.”

When asked whether he feels pressure as a team leader at the Rockets, Kubiš insisted that he didn’t, and put this down to the fact that he feels a strong harmony from within the squad.

“Not at all, the team’s spirit is really high, really nice. And, yeah, I didn't feel any pressure from the team or from the guys, the whole season. The chemistry in the team is so nice.”

Whilst he is often the man who delivers the big results for the team with his fast finish, Kubiš also expanded on the importance of working selflessly for his teammates when he can. He highlighted the GP Denain as a race where he felt the team’s chemistry shone through and secured a 7th-place finish for Czech rider Tomáš Kopecký.

“I was the leader that day, but I saw the guys were doing a really good job. They were attacking, and in the end, we had like, three guys and then later, only Tomáš [Kopecký] in the first group because Axel [Huens] got a puncture and Joren [Bloem] dropped from the group,” said Kubiš, who was trying to disrupt the chase behind to help keep his teammates ahead.

The 25-year-old also reflected philosophically on this race, outlining his own appreciation of his teammates, in a sport where for most riders, moments of individual success are scarce, despite the hard work, dedication and talent each individual puts into their craft.

“The situation at that moment was really nice. I am always the guy who wants to pay back, because I know how hard it is for them. All the guys are working for me the whole season. That's the shame about cycling because it's a team sport, but in the end, it's only one guy with the result.”

Among many highlights, including winning the Cholet Agglo Tour, defending his Slovakian road race title, and his end-of-season 2nd place on GC at the NIBC Tour of Holland, one race stands out as Kubiš's most cherished moment of the year. 

“Paris-Roubaix ... I’m so grateful that I could do that race. It was a dream just to be there, but now I know, you can do so many recons on the cobbles in Roubaix, but it’s always different. You can push 500-600 watts on the recon, but in the race, it is always different," said Kubiš. 

"And especially after this race, because I was aiming for a top 10 at least, I was so sad and I was angry at myself, because I could do things better in that race. But in the end, I am so happy I did that race, and I finished that race, because I could feel that speed in the race on the cobbles."

Looking ahead, it’s no secret that the ultimate ambition of the Unibet Rose Rockets and Kubiš himself would be to participate in the Tour de France. It would mark a full-circle moment for team founders Bas Tietema, Josse Wester and Devin van der Wiel, who grew their popular channel, Tour de Tietema, primarily through videos they made following the French Grand Tour. In 2023 they announced their ambitious  project of creating their own professional team.

Gaining popularity through entertaining content such as wheelie challenges featuring the riders from, as well as the traditional delivery of pizzas at the race’s climax on stage 21, the trio will be hoping that they have the opportunity to hand Pizzas to their own riders come 26 July 2026 on the Champs-Élysées.

The team’s motto is ‘To the Tour and Beyond,’ and now, from his own humble beginnings, Kubiš is on the verge of cycling’s premier event, with a team who are carving its own destiny. The realisation and hunger became clearer after representatives of the team, including Kubiš, attended the route presentation for the 2026 Tour de France in October.

“It was so cool. I really enjoyed it because there’s only one time when it's your first Tour presentation,” explained Kubiš. “When we arrived there, I was like a little kid, I was so happy, and when the presentation started, I was just watching all the pictures, and it was like, ‘We are so close,’” said the Slovakian.

The 18 UCI WorldTour teams are granted automatic qualification to the race, with five wildcard positions available. Three of the wildcard spots are allocated to the highest-ranked ProTour teams, expected to be Cofidis, Tudor and Pinarello-Q36.5, leaving two invitations at the discretion of the race organisers.  

Only teams ranked in the top 30 of the UCI Team Rankings are eligible for wildcards, and the Rockets qualified, having ended the year in 26th position. The fact that the Unibet Rose Rockets are French registered, despite their Dutch roots, gives them an added boost in their chances compared to the other teams, who are likely to target wildcards for their home Grand Tours instead.

Whilst the prospect of a three-week adventure in France next Summer is becoming increasingly likely, Kubiš remains calm and collected about the situation, insisting that all he and the team can do at the moment is work hard and be ready for any potential opportunity that comes. 

"Now we just need to wait. There's still a lot of work to do. But I'm sure we will be ready when we get the chance," said Kubiš, who believes in the team's ability and is just waiting for the moment to present itself.

The team are certainly doing everything they can to give themselves the best possible chance, working double hard in the transfer market to increase the prestige of the squad and thus improving their chances of receiving a wildcard. 

Twelve new additions will make their mark at the Rockets in 2026, including three former Tour de France stage winners in Dylan Groenewegen, Wout Poels, and Victor Lafay. Signings of such significance are a big deal for the ProTeam, showing how far they have come in such a short space of time. These additions have also left Kubiš feeling excited about the opportunity to learn from riders with such experience.

“Exactly, when I heard about these guys, I was really happy, and when I met them, I told them that maybe for you, I’m the most annoying guy on the team because I will ask you so many questions,” said Kubiš when asked about the significance of the signings.

“This is the way you can learn, because they know how to do these things, as they have done them so many times. If there is a Tour [de France] next year or in the future, it will be the first Grand Tour. The first three weeks of racing for me. The first time in my life. So I just want to know how to do it, because it’s really hard. I think normal people can not imagine something like that said Kubiš.

In particular, the additions of Groenewgen and his trusted lead-out, Elmar Reinders from Jayco AlUla, are of priority to Kubiš, who aims to forge a strong partnership, a crucial aspect to a successful sprint train.

"I’m really looking forward to the first team camp, because then we will develop that team train, because you know, when you are sprinting at 60/70 km/h, you need to have a blind trust in the guy who is leading you or who is in front of your wheel," said Kubiš. "I spoke with them [Groenewegen and Reinders] during the team kickoff and the time before, and I can see the energy in them"

Another significant boost for the team is the arrival of Marcel Kittel as the new sprint coach. If anyone knows what it takes to win a Tour de France stage, it’s the German powerhouse who claimed fourteen victories at the biggest race from 2013 to 2017, including five in the 2017 edition, and a stage win is the dream for Kubiš and the team.

"Yeah, it’s the yellow jersey... No, I’m joking, man, but it would be nice to fight with Pogi," joked Kubiš when asked about his ultimate Tour ambition. "No, but as I said before, if we ride the Tour, it would be a crazy moment for me, and I think we will fully go for it for sure."

The Slovakian does have his eyes set on one stage in particular, “When I saw during the presentation that the last stage will finish with Montmartre, I did that climb in the Paris Olympics, so I know that climb really well. The atmosphere was crazy good,” said Kubiš. 

“I said it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had from cycling, and I know how to race on that course, so if we are there, I would especially be looking forward to that one,” he expanded, before mentioning how he had watched the final stage of the 2025 Tour which included the Montmartre climb for the first time, where Wout van Aert powered away from Tadej Pogačar to victory in rain-soaked conditions.

Though Kubiš did note that in order to reach the French capital, he would need to overcome the brutal penultimate stage, which features four brutal mountain passes, including the Col de la Croix de Fer and Col du Galibier, packed into 172km of racing, and finishes with the final part of the classic Alpe d'Huez ascent.

"But, what I saw on the presentation, stage 20 is something like 6,000 metres altitude, so it will be crazy hard. But we still need to receive a wildcard first. And as I said: whenever we get it, we’ll be ready."

Regardless of whether the 25-year-old embarks on a Tour debut next year, his high standards and ambitions will remain the same. "If there is a Tour [de France], I want to win a stage. If there is no Tour [de France], I want to win the other races."

The story of the Unibet Rose Rockets is one like no other in the sport of cycling, and Kubiš has established himself as an integral cog of the team and will be dreaming of breaking more new ground in 2026.