{"id":246271,"date":"2025-11-06T00:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/246271\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:14:09","slug":"team-picnic-postnl-recruit-audrey-de-keersmaeker-and-gaia-masetti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/246271\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Picnic PostNL recruit Audrey De Keersmaeker and Gaia Masetti"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Team Picnic PostNL are pleased to reveal two more additions to their Women\u2019s program for next season: Audrey De Keersmaeker and Gaia Masetti. Belgian De Keersmaeker will wear the team\u2019s jersey through 2027, while Italian Masetti has a contract for 2026.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Audrey De Keersmaeker<\/p>\n

A former swimmer who won silver two times in the open Belgian championships that also broke the Belgian record in her weight class for bench press, De Keersmaeker came to the sport of cycling later in her career. Winning the TV show \u201cKoers zoekt vrouw\u201d during the Covid-19 pandemic, she earned a contract on a cyclocross team for the end of 2021. Her experience in cyclocross saw her make the step-up from a Club team to the Continental level on the road at the start of 2024. The past few seasons have mostly been about gaining experience on the road, finding her way in the bunch and how to handle the hectic nature of the peloton, and exploring where her abilities lie. Some promising performances over a variety of terrain this season such as ninth at the Volta NXT Classic and 13th at a hard edition of Brabantse Pijl show that De Keersmaeker\u2019s development is still on an upward trend.<\/p>\n

De Keersmaeker expressed: \u201cWhat really drew me to Team Picnic PostNL is the professional structure and the level of guidance the team provides. I recognised myself in the team\u2019s mindset \u2014 structured, ambitious, and always looking to improve \u2014 so it immediately felt like the perfect match. What I\u2019m most excited about is working together with everyone involved: the riders, trainers, coaches, and all the experts who help make this such a complete environment for growth. I haven\u2019t been in the peloton for very long yet, so I\u2019m still discovering what kind of rider I truly am, but I\u2019ve already found that I love the tougher races with climbing; the Ardennes classics are exactly the type of courses that inspire me. My biggest goal is to keep developing together with the team, to become the best version of myself while helping those around me do the same. I\u2019m a fighter, I never give up on or off the bike, and I like to bring positivity and motivation into the team atmosphere. That energy is something I hope will make a difference here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team Picnic PostNL head coach Rudi Kemna continued: \u201cAudrey is an attacking rider by nature, someone who always races with initiative and positivity. She\u2019s versatile, and she\u2019s never afraid to go on the offensive, even in flatter races. That\u2019s exactly the kind of mindset we want to encourage: racing with an open view and a willingness to make things happen. Audrey will be an important part of that style for us. We see her playing a key role in hilly races and the Ardennes, as well as in mountain stages where she can stay up there with our best climbers. Next to this, she also has the instinct to join meaningful breakaways. We\u2019re convinced she\u2019ll bring a lot of energy and value to the group with her way of racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gaia Masetti<\/p>\n

Coming from Sassuolo in Italy, Masetti has been racing her bike in the elite women\u2019s peloton since coming out of the junior ranks at the end of 2019 and has progressed with her previous team from the Continental level to the Women\u2019s WorldTour. 2023 was a stand-out season for the young Italian, where she took a solo win at the hilly La Classique Morbihan, alongside multiple other strong performances throughout the season such as fourth at the U23 European championships road race. More recently, the last two years have seen Masetti ride strongly in support of her teammates at some of the biggest races in the world, helping them to some top results. She has also had her share of bad luck with illness and injury but has shown resilience and a strong character to come back at the highest level.<\/p>\n

Masetti said: \u201cJoining Team Picnic PostNL feels like becoming part of something truly connected. I\u2019ve always noticed how the riders race as one, supporting each other from the first kilometre to the finish line, and that kind of togetherness is something I really value and want to contribute to. I\u2019m genuinely excited to begin this new chapter and see how far we can grow together. I still feel like I haven\u2019t reached my limits as a rider, and this environment feels like the perfect place to keep developing and discovering what I\u2019m capable of. Over the past few seasons, I\u2019ve gained experience across many different races, and I\u2019ve learned how and where I can make the biggest difference. I\u2019d describe myself as a versatile rider who\u2019s always ready to work hard and commit fully to the team\u2019s goals. My biggest strengths are my determination, consistency, and drive; I never stop until I achieve what I set out to do. Off the bike, I\u2019m someone who brings a lot of positive energy and laughter. I believe that a good atmosphere within the team helps us all perform at our very best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team Picnic PostNL head coach Rudi Kemna added: \u201cGaia brings valuable experience and real captain qualities to the team. She has strong race insight and leadership skills, and that\u2019s where we see her biggest impact. With the right guidance, we also believe she can take another physical step forward and be right there in the finales. She\u2019s a true road captain; someone who can guide the team in the toughest races, whether that\u2019s the hilly classics or the harder Belgian one-day races. Her presence will be a big asset for us in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Team Picnic PostNL are pleased to reveal two more additions to their Women\u2019s program for next season: Audrey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-246271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}