⚡️ Team dsm-firmenich PostNL recruit talented Dutch trio to their Development program

Building for the future, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL are thrilled to reveal that three talented Dutch youngsters – Ko Molenaar, Christiaan van Rees and Jurgen Zomermaand – will join their Development program next season. Van Rees will wear the team’s jersey for 2025, while Molenaar and Zomermaand will pull on the distinctive two stripes through at least the 2026 campaign.

Photo Credit: Flavio Moretti Fotografie
Ko Molenaar

Coming from Wervershoof in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands, Molenaar was a tennis player when he was younger, but he made the switch to cycling at the age of 12 and hasn’t looked back. A promising debut campaign in the junior ranks saw him compete in a wide variety of races to gain as much experience as possible racing against some strong opposition. Good results at the likes of Côte de’Or Classic Juniors and Tour de l’Eure Juniors followed, but arguably his best race was at the hilly GP Rüebliland Juniors where a fourth place on the final day saw him secure third overall and the best first-year title. Struggling with injury niggles in the opening part of 2024, Molenaar still helped his teammates to strong results but after recovering fully, he himself began to shine too. A sensational win in the Dutch road race saw him claim the famous tricolour in June over the challenging and punchy parcours, before another win at Kerniel-Borgloon was swiftly followed up by final stage glory at Ronde des Vallées Juniors where he also laid claim to both the sprint and mountain jerseys.

Click here for quotes from Molenaar and coaching staff.

Photo Credit: Marcel Cycling Photos
Christiaan van Rees
Spending two years at the junior level in 2022 and 2023, where he took some promising results that included four wins on the domestic Dutch circuit alongside several other places of honour and top tens in races, Van Rees made the step-up to the U23 level with Dutch Food Valley Cycling Team in 2024. Through the team’s partnership with Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, Van Rees was able to race alongside some of the Development program riders already in the U23 Road Series where he impressed with strong riding and committed teamwork. As a first-year U23 rider he has continued his progress and opened the campaign with a nice win at Omloop van Schijndel before a string of consistent performances in the very competitive Dutch and Belgian racing scene where he has secured 11 top five finishes throughout the year, were followed up in June with victory in a fast sprint finale at Kampioenschap Waasland. Lately Van Rees has continued his consistent performances with further top five results in fast finishes.

Click here for quotes from Van Rees and coaching staff.

Jurgen Zomermaand
Young Dutch talent Zomermaand hails from Franeker in the province of Friesland. Now into his second year with the Willebrord Wil Vooruit Juniors team, 2023 saw him make the transition to that level with a strong performance at the Ronde van Oud Gastel which he managed to take the win. The rest of the season saw Zomermaand pick up some solid results throughout Europe, gaining valuable experience which he took with him into this recent winter. During training camp at the start of 2024 Zomermaand went somewhat viral after a strong time on the famous Coll de Rates climb, earned him a top ten on the leaderboard amongst some esteemed company. His racing season began with a strong second at GP José Colette before third overall at the mountainous Gipuzkoa Klasikoa. The summer saw him continue to impress with third at Classique Alpes Juniors, third at the Dutch national road race championships and fifth overall at Junioren Rudfahrt where he won the mountains jersey. After coming close throughout the season Zomermaand could raise his arms aloft at the Volta a Portugal Juniores where he won stages two and four alongside the overall title, and recently finished second overall at Keizer der Juniores and eighth in the World Championships road race.
Click here for quotes from Zomermaand and coaching staff.