Marcel Kittel pushes Groenewegen to 'best version of himself' at Rockets

Dylan Groenewegen joined Unibet Rose Rockets this winter after four years with Australia based Team Jayco-AlUla. The 32-year-old Dutch sprinter, a six time Tour de France stage winner, has been brought in to lead the team’s sprint ambitions and to help shape a project that is still clearly under construction.

That process is where Kittel fits in. “For me it is quite easy because the line with Marcel is very short,” Groenewegen said to Wielerflits. “We call each other almost every week to go through things, about equipment, about meetings, or focused sprint sessions.” 

And on camp, it turns into something very concrete. “During lead-out sessions they sometimes put someone in my wheel with a sprint,” Groenewegen explained. “So in that last second you give just a little bit extra. Purely to trigger me. That is nice and very challenging for me.”

Groenewegen knows what people inside the team are saying too, that he is being brought in as the face of the project. “That pressure is there, but that is allowed,” he said. “I like it.” 

He does not describe it as a burden, more like a nudge in the right direction, especially with a squad full of young riders trying to make their name. “They really want to show something. That triggers me as well. I feel a strong urge to prove myself, to win, and above all to be the best version of myself.”

His early season programme is built around sprint chances. He starts on January 25 in Valencia, then moves into races like Bessèges and Almería. Belgium comes next, with one day races including Scheldeprijs, then later Dunkirk and the Baloise Belgium Tour. “We can choose races that suit me well,” he said on his program. “That works for me right now.”

The Tour de France is still up in the air, with the team waiting to see whether it will receive one of the wildcards. “That would be nice,” Groenewegen said. “A great challenge with this team.”

He is also honest about the risk of missing out. “When I signed, I knew there was a chance we would not go. Of course it would be a disappointment. It is the biggest race there is.”

Whatever happens with July, Groenewegen is clear about what he wants this season to be: a reset.

“Last season was not bad, but it was often second place,” he said. “In the Tour it did not fall right.” Now he is trying to turn that frustration into fuel, with Kittel close enough to keep him sharp. “Training looks very good,” Groenewegen said. “I want to be the best version of myself. It really looks like that.”