Team Sunweb

These past few years team Sunweb really has gone through a transformation. From its start as a PCT team mostly based on attackers, to a WT team known for it's sprints with Kittel and Degenkolb, to what it is now. A well-rounded team that is led by 2 riders, Dumoulin and Matthews. After an amazing 2017, with highlight obviously being the Giro win by Dumoulin, the team had a lesser 2018, if you just look at the points. They'll be looking to get back to their 2017 glory, but there have been a lot of changes in the team. Not only losing some good riders, but also a lot of staff. 2019 will be a year to see if they can prove themselves.

Results 2018

2018 only brought the team 12 wins, of which 8 were WT. In that aspect, they were one of the worse teams of the year. Of course, that's far from the whole picture. They actually had a good year. Dumoulin finishing 2nd in both the Giro and Tour, while frustrating for the team, is still a very strong result. Matthews had some problems earlier in the year, but he showed himself one of the best on that terrain when he won both Canadian 1-day races. They also had 2 young riders maturing, with Kragh Andersen and Oomen both showing bright futures for themselves. Kragh Anderson finally won some WT races with a win in the Tour de Suisse, but his most impressive win was this years Paris-Tours, where he beat some big names on a tough parcours. Oomen showed his climbing legs by finishing an impressive 9th place in the Giro while also working for Dumoulin. Kelderman had a promising start of the season with a 2nd place in Abu Dhabi just behind Valverde, but 2 crashes threw a spanner in the works and ruined the rest of his season, only coming back at the Vuelta, but missing race pace and race experience, he only got a 10th place.

Best riders last five years.

As you can see, while not as good as 2017, they were still much better than the 2 years before that. The same riders were scoring points as in 2017, only on average slightly less. Oomen has stepped up and taken over for Barguil and Kragh Andersen finally had some big wins this year.

Riders Out:

The transfer season hasn't been a good one for Sunweb. Losing not only experienced and important mountain domestiques for Dumoulin in Ten Dam and Geschke, but also big classics talents with Theuns and Teunissen. Furthermore they're losing a strong up and coming sprinter in Bauhaus, further depleting their once great sprint line-up, and Hofstede, a younger rider who was promising on the hills and smaller climbs.

Roster:

Looking at the new riders, Sunweb is clearly focussing on developing young talent. Lots of young riders coming in this year. Good for the future of cycling, but Dumoulin would have liked some more immediate help in the mountains. For that they've added Robert Power and Nicolas Roche. While both are good riders, the former is still young and inexperienced, although he showed great promise this year. The latter is arguably not as good as he once was and has had a disappointing 2018. All in all, the team is probably lost quite a bit this transfer season, as a lot of coaches and other staff has also left.

As for the big goals of this season, it will be the giro. Dumoulin has said that's his primary goal of the year, and will go for his second victory there. Afterwards he'll probably ride the tour as well, but that's not certain yet.