After telling you about the 2025 roster and the "colorful" news by Alé Cycling here are the equally tasty contents of the Fenix Deceuninck press conference today in Milan. Barely recovering from Alé's dazzling colors, here we are in the presence of the equally dazzling cycling majesty of Annemiek Van Vleuten. Yes, because the Dutch superchampion, retired last year as a rider, is joining the Fenix Deceuninck staff in a role tailored just for her: Performance Mentor. What this entails, she explains herself: "I'll observe the athletes and work closely with them and their trainers to reach their maximum potential. I became who I am through a laborious process of trials and errors, gradually building greater confidence in myself. The role I'll represent for the Fenix Deceuninck cyclists aims to accelerate this process for each of them. I've already experienced observing cycling 'from the other side of the barricade' in my TV commentator role this year, now I have a formidable opportunity to put my experience, in my small way, at the service of the growth of the women's movement, perfectly embodied by Fenix Deceuninck, whose professionalism and management direction by Philip Roodhooft I really appreciate. Women's cycling is growing strongly, now there's even the Professional category and quality is less and less concentrated in a few teams. It will be fun, and we're here for it!"

And here is Roodhooft, called out by Van Vleuten, setting the line for the next season: "We have extended the agreement with Fenix until 2027, a synergy that supports our ambition linked to both results and movement development. This year we have shown we can race well, but we were missing something in terms of a winning mentality to make that decisive step. Thanks to the goodness of our work, the quality of our athletes, and the addition of Annemiek, we aim to acquire the confidence to race by taking the right risks. If you're not willing to risk losing, you can't win: this will be our mantra to try to have our say in the most important races. Regarding the overall movement, we are deeply committed to the youth pipeline to lower barriers and encourage the entry of young girls into cycling: to do this, we must know how to value talent and show the new generations the best side of this sport, beyond just sacrifices and suffering on the bike. With this in mind, we have established a collaboration with Natascha Knaven den Ouden's youth structure NXTG. Last but not least, to provide concrete support to the world of race organization, we'll continue to ensure the survival of the Omloop van het Hageland and promote the creation of Junior and Allievi races alongside the professional race."

Finally, the Fenix Deceuninck athletes Marthe Truyen and Yara Kastelijn explained how "Annemiek Van Vleuten is an inspiration for all of us, for how she managed to become the strongest: sometimes the leg is fine, but at certain moments of the race without even realizing it you lose confidence in yourself. She will help us a lot in this sense. Puck Pieterse? A very relaxed girl, who when she gets on the bike has a great hunger to win and show the talent she knows she has."

The closing remarks by the host, Stefano Mion CEO of Arpa Industriale: "With the Fenix Deceuninck team, we have a total sharing of values, their seriousness inside and outside races constitutes a perfect parallel with the world of the most innovative companies, where the efforts of each individual is fulfilled both for oneself and for team objectives. Each with their fundamental role and maximum commitment. I'm proud of what we are and will realize together!"