A year of firsts: Frits Biesterbos reflects on his breakthrough season

Just over a year ago, Frits Biesterbos was still racing as a club rider. Now, the 22-year-old has Paris-Roubaix, the Amstel Gold Race and the Tour de France as races he’s started this year, seven top-ten finishes to his name and a first professional victory that feels closer than ever.

It has been a remarkable rise for a rider who only made the step to the professional peloton at the start of 2026. And while Frits is still very much focused on the process of developing, even he admits that his first season with Team Picnic PostNL has gone beyond what he could have expected.

“I feel like my first season with the team has been very successful,” he says. “In January, we made a good plan to focus mainly on development and to see where I could still improve. We are obviously still working on that, but in the meantime I’ve had a really good season, with good results. I rode Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race, and eventually I also started the Tour de France. I think everything has gone a lot better than we might have expected in January, which is obviously a really nice thing.”

A year of rapid development

The speed of Frits’ progression has been remarkable. At the beginning of 2025, he was still racing at club level. By the end of that year, a second place at the World Gravel Championships and an impressive season with BEAT Cycling had put him firmly on the radar of Team Picnic PostNL. A few months later, he was lining up at the Tour de France.

Even by his own expectations, the progression has been quicker than planned.

“It’s all happening very quickly,” he says. “The development this year has also gone faster than we expected beforehand. Sometimes I do stop and think about it, but mostly I feel like I just have to keep doing what I have to do. So far, the development has just continued naturally.”

That mindset has perhaps been one of the reasons for his rapid progression. Rather than becoming distracted by how quickly his career is moving, Frits has continued to focus on the next step.

“It has been a really good year and I’m very happy with it.”

When he spoke to us in March, Fris had set himself a relatively modest target for the remainder of the season: reach more finals, play his role well within the team and perhaps even fight for a podium.

Looking back, he can comfortably tick those boxes.

“In principle, I achieved that goal,” he says. “I’ve already been on the podium twice. They were .1 races, but a podium is a podium and I’m very happy with that.”

The moment one goal is reached, however, another one appears.

“It’s still professional sport, so you always want more and you always want to do better. You’re already looking at how you can improve and maybe even win a race. So the goal has gone quite well, but in the meantime it has already shifted a little.”

Learning to race smarter

One of the biggest areas of progress for Frits has been something that cannot simply be measured by power numbers: his tactical understanding and positioning.

“I think I’ve improved in pretty much every area,” he explains. “At the moment, I probably benefit most from the development I’ve made in tactics and positioning. I think that is going much better than it was at the beginning of the season.”

For a rider who is still relatively new to road racing, that experience is invaluable. Every race brings a new situation, a new lesson and another detail to improve.

“And even there, you find new things in every race that you can do better. The process just keeps going.”

The physical side of that process will be another major focus this winter. Frits has only had two full winters of road cycling behind him, meaning there is still plenty of room for his physical development to continue.

“I mainly want to become stronger in every area. I haven’t had that many winters where I’ve done a full winter on the road bike. Last winter was actually only my second full winter on the road bike, so I think there is still a lot of progress to make in terms of building my engine and simply getting stronger.”

From Roubaix to the Tour

Few races illustrate the breadth of Frits’ first professional season better than the extremes he has experienced.

He has raced the tough and unpredictable Belgian classics, the fast and flat roads of races such as Copenhagen Sprint, the heat of the AlUla Tour and, eventually, the high mountains of the Tour de France.

The latter was something completely new.

“The Tour was a very special experience that I won’t forget quickly,” he says. “My first Tour de France. I hope there will be many more in my career. It was really cool to be part of it and to be able to contribute to the team.”

His role was primarily focused on supporting the team’s sprint ambitions, giving him the chance to experience the biggest race in the world from inside the peloton.

But the Tour also took him far outside the territory he normally considers his own.

“I actually think everything is cool to do,” Frits says when asked where he feels most at home. “When I look back at the AlUla Tour, I have very good memories of that as well.”

The Tour, however, offered a completely different challenge.

“It was much more focused on climbing, which is something I don’t normally do. Obviously, you’re not racing for the victory there, but it’s still really cool to experience those things as a cyclist. Riding uphill for such a long time was a new experience for me, but I really enjoyed it.”

That variety is one of the things he has come to appreciate most about professional cycling.

“I really like the variety in cycling. I think I’m relatively better in flat stages and flatter races, but I enjoy both sides of cycling.”

At the same time, he has also learned to understand his own limits.

“I think I have a pretty good idea now of what suits me. I’m a rider who can handle a climb in Belgium or the Netherlands, but once it gets above ten percent, it quickly becomes too hard for me. I think the coaches and I can now also judge quite well whether a race suits me or not.”

Getting closer

While the variety of his season has given him plenty of new experiences, the most tangible sign of his progression can be found in the results.

Frits has already collected seven top-ten finishes this season. And last week, in the Gooikse Pijl, he came agonisingly close to turning one of those strong results into his first professional victory.

“I do feel like that victory is getting closer,” he says. “Especially when I look at last week, where I ended up just half a wheel away from my first win. That does give you the feeling that things are moving in the right direction.”

The consistency itself is something he values.

“Seven top-ten finishes is also just a good result. It shows that you are consistent and that you are there when you need to be in the final. So it’s definitely going in the right direction.”

Of all those results, one still stands out.

“If I had to choose one, I would probably say the AlUla Tour. That third place was a complete surprise to everyone, including myself. That made it extra special for me.”

One race he would happily do again

There is no particular race this season that Frits feels he threw away. Rather than looking back with regret, he prefers to focus on what each race has taught him.

“If I had to choose one, maybe Paris-Roubaix,” he says. “Not because I did anything stupid there or felt like I ruined the race, but simply because it was such a beautiful one-day race. I would just like to experience it again.”

That says something about the way Frits approaches his first season at WorldTour level. There is ambition, certainly, but also a genuine appreciation for the opportunity to experience races that, not so long ago, would have seemed far beyond his reach.

And there is still more to come.

The next step

With the season now approaching its conclusion, there is one obvious way Frits could put the finishing touch on his breakthrough year.

“The nicest thing would obviously be to finish the season with a victory,” he says. “That would be the ultimate.”

But it is not something he needs to complete the story.

“I don’t think it’s a requirement to be satisfied with my first year as a WorldTour rider. When I look at all the results I’ve been able to achieve this year and the development I’ve made with the team, I can already look back on the season with a very good feeling.”

And yet, there is no denying that a victory would make an already remarkable year even more memorable.

“If a win comes as well, that would obviously be even better.”

From club rider to Tour de France debutant, from learning the ropes of the WorldTour to standing just half a wheel away from a first professional victory: Frits’ first season has moved quickly.

And if his development continues at the same pace, there may be plenty more chapters to add to the story.