Unibet Tietema Rockets will race their first Monument in 2025, announced on Monday as one of the teams invited to Paris-Roubaix as a wildcard alongside Tom Pidcock's new team Q36.5, Tudor and TotalEnergies.
While eventually racing the Tour de France remains the long-term goal for the team run by former pro rider turned successful YouTuber Bas Tietema, alongside business partners Josse Wester and Devin van der Wiel, Roubaix is a huge step in the right direction also serving as their first ASO race.
"Receiving this wildcard is a dream come true for our team," said Tietema in a press release. "Paris-Roubaix is a race with a rich history and immense challenges, and we are ready to embrace them with full dedication and ambition.
"We have been building towards this moment for the past years, and it's incredible to see our efforts recognized by the most iconic one-day race of the calendar."
Tietema himself has a history with the Monument and pavé or Northern France, having finished third in the under-23 event - Paris-Roubaix Espoirs - back in 2014 as Mike Teunissen took the victory.
Years later, after ending his racing career and then coming back with Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB for the 2022 season after building his YouTube channel, Tietema was the last rider to arrive at the fabled Roubaix Velodrome, more than one hour after winner Dylan van Baarle and outside the time limit.
"The cobbles of Roubaix are unforgiving, but we will be prepared mentally and physically to face them," said Tietema.
"As we count down to race day, we remain committed to our mission: to inspire, push limits, and bring an electrifying energy to the peloton. Riding Paris-Roubaix will be one of the toughest yet most rewarding moments of their lives. The road to Roubaix will be tough, but we are ready to ride it with determination and passion."
The offseason saw a change in name to Unibet Tietema Rockets and UCI licence, now riding as a French team to help achieve that dream of the Tour going forward. 2025 will be their second season at ProTeam level after starting out at the Continental level two years prior.
Tietema's team rode their first WorldTour event last season at the Amstel Gold Race, even featuring in the breakaway through Brit Zeb Kyffin In 2025, they'll also debut at the WorldTour-level Omloop Het Nieuwsblad one-day race in March ahead of their maiden appearance at the Hell of the North.
Racing a Monument was a big goal the team had their eyes on, with Tietema telling Cyclingnews back in April that the Amstel Gold Race was "really the goal for this year - to get into our first WorldTour race... next year, first Monument."
Also taking the start of the men's Paris-Roubaix in 2025 will be the three highest-ranked ProTeams, Lotto, Israel-Premier Tech and Uno-X Mobility, and the 18 WorldTour teams.
Starting the women's race will be all 15 Women's WorldTour teams, alongside the six new ProTeams, EF Education-Oatly, Cofidis, Arkéa B&B Hotels, Winspace Orange Seal, St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93, VolkerWessels and three more invited teams from the Conti level, Lotto, Coop-Repsol and DD Group.
