Unibet Rose Rockets has been steadily progressing towards the cycling elite for several years now and hopes to make significant strides in sprinting with Marcel Kittel as coach. The former world-class sprinter will take on the role of sprint coach for the Bas Tietema team and is really looking forward to a 'special year'.
Kittel retired in 2019 at just 30 years old, after a successful career in which he won fourteen Tour de France stages, four Giro d’Italia stages, and one Vuelta a España stage. In total, he notched 89 professional wins. After his career, he also became an ambassador for Rose, the bike and title sponsor of the team he now works for. In recent years, he has been active as an analyst for NOS during the Tour de France.
The German has now been officially connected as sprint coach to Unibet Rose Rockets for a few weeks and is currently attending their training camp in Calpe. What are the first impressions of the former top sprinter? "I feel this is going to be a very special year," he says via Instagram. "I have never felt so energetic."
"The freedom to build a sprint train together with this fantastic group of riders, to coach reflectively and to inspire by sharing experiences, is my personal rocket fuel. And this is not just the romantic phase of a new project. These are special people who care for each other. Often underestimated, but they learn fast. There is passion and love for what we do and how we do it."
Kittel and co-founder Bas Tietema - photo: Joren Benjamins/Unibet Rose Rockets
Potato salad and sprint train
"The Rockets are the underdog: we don’t have a million-euro budget for innovation, no full-time chef, and not three data scientists," Kittel continues. "But the Rockets dare to dream together and know how to tell a great story. It’s the only team where you can use the words potato salad, hairspray, and sprint train in the same sentence and it still makes sense."
"I have found my way back to professional cycling after my farewell as a rider more than six years ago. But I now realize that I never really left with my heart. I look forward to sharing my next steps as a sprint coach and Rocketeer with you all."
Unibet Rose Rockets 2026 Julia Soek | Sports Director |
| Martijn Budding | Assistant Sports Director |
 Roger Hammond | Assistant Sports Director |
| Boy Sanders | Assistant Sports Director |
 Vik Sverre Dyngeland | Assistant Sports Director |
| Bas Tietema | Assistant Sports Director |
