Picnic PostNL face loss of key riders for Tour de France: 'Quite a few concerns'

The Dutch team have had a difficult campaign to date. They currently sit 28th in the UCI rankings, dead last among the WorldTour teams, with one victory since last June, courtesy of Casper van Uden at the Presidential Tour of Turkey in April.

Last summer, Oscar Onley provided the shining light of the team’s season, battling to a spectacular fourth at La Grande Boucle. 

Twelve months later, with Onley now riding in the colours of Netcompany-Ineos, Picnic PostNL desperately need a spark to revitalise their year. However, a growing list of potential absences for the Tour is causing severe headaches.

Max Poole seemed the natural fit to step into the void left by Onley. The 23-year-old British climber finished on the cusp of the top 10 at the 2025 Giro d’Italia, finishing eleventh, but his progress was halted in August when he was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus. Poole finally returned to racing this February at the Volta ao Algarve.

Speaking to Domestique in Portugal, Poole downplayed whether he felt an added sense of responsibility following Onley’s departure.

“No, not really, I have a lot of motivation myself. I want to achieve a lot of things, and the team trust in me a lot, and all the guys who I go to the races with back me a lot, and I think this first part of the season it's not so much about the results,” said Poole

“It's more them getting back into racing. 
I have the motivation myself, but the most important thing is just to get the race fitness and enjoy it,” added Poole, who had also alluded to his plans to ride the Tour de France.

However, after finishing 54th in Portugal, Poole has not raced since. Team manager Roy Curvers has confirmed to Wielerflits that the British rider is highly unlikely to make the Tour start line.

“Max Poole is on the right track after a virus, but unfortunately, he is still not race-ready,” Curvers told Wielerflits. “For him, we have to conclude that the Tour is going to be very difficult, actually impossible.”

To compound their issues, the team’s sprint ambitions are also under threat following Pavel Bittner's crash at the Classique Dunkerque at the end of May. The Czech fast man crashed heavily in the finale, suffering a partially ruptured ankle tendon and a deep laceration.

“And then Pavel Bittner crashed in Dunkirk. That really looked very serious with his ankle,” Curvers said. “He is making steps in the right direction now, but that is the question again: will it be good in time for the Tour?”

Losing two of their highest-potential riders leaves Picnic PostNL facing a massive dilemma as they desperately fight to claw their way up the UCI rankings with the biggest race of the season on the horizon.

“So there are still quite a few concerns. On the one hand, you have a number of men from the second tier coming back who really seem to be back on track,” said Curvers. 

“But anyway, if you know you were planning to work with Pavel towards the Tour and he misses a block in his preparation, then it is always a question of how far he will really get back to his level for the Tour and whether that is realistic.”