The cycling world's attention is focused on the first Grand Tour of the season in May: the Giro d'Italia. For the 2026 edition, Team Picnic PostNL will adopt a special identity, racing and promoting itself for all three weeks as Team Picnic PostNL Raisin. This initiative celebrates the partnership with Raisin, which leverages the race to launch its consumer product line on the Italian market.

The activation will also be visible through a personalized race kit, with the Raisin logo prominently displayed, while the team's distinctive identity – the orange "Keep Challenging" stripes – will remain clearly recognizable in the peloton.

The Giro offers a unique platform for this initiative, as an event that holds cultural significance in Italy that goes far beyond sport, thus representing a natural moment to connect with a broader audience.

The team's commercial manager, Jente Rijpstra, explained: “Raisin is a very reliable and solid partner, and at the same time highly innovative, an important competitor in the European savings and investment market. The parallels with us – a competitor and innovator operating with equally energetic spirit – speak for themselves. We are all very pleased to be able to support Raisin's launch in Italy”.

Raisin's CEO, Tamaz Georgadze, added: “Cycling is characterized by endurance, discipline, and strategic optimization. These are also the pillars of savings and long-term investment. We share these values with the team, and that is why it was a logical step to strengthen our commitment right in time for Italy's most important race, celebrating Raisin's launch in the EU's third largest deposit market”.

Sporting focus: hunting for stages with the Orange Train
From a sporting perspective, the team arrives at the Giro with a new objective. Initial plans involved targeting the general classification with Max Poole, along with sprint ambitions with Casper van Uden. However, with Poole still in recovery, the approach is clear: race proactively, identify opportunities every day, and commit fully at the right moment.

To do this, the squad deploys a mix of experienced international riders and five Dutch riders – the "Orange Train" – a formation that strongly reflects the team's origins.

Team coach Matt Winston explains: “Without general classification ambitions, we have the freedom to race aggressively and choose the right moments during the three weeks, seizing the opportunity to give our all or conserve energy in moments that don't favor us. In the hardest stages, riders like Chris, Frank, Warren, and Gijs have already proven they can compete for results in the Grand Tours, and we will seek to leverage this strength again. In the sprints, our approach remains unchanged: we believe in our group and in our Orange Train's ability to put Casper in a position to compete for the best results, just as we did last year. The three weeks of racing will be a challenge, but we are ready to face it head-on with this group.”

Full roster:
Frank van den Broek
Warren Barguil
Sean Flynn
Chris Hamilton
Timo de Jong
Gijs Leemreize
Tim Naberman
Casper van Uden