While there was talk of a rider terminating his contract with Team DSM in 2021, Chris Hamilton had no hesitation in renewing his contract with the team for the next two seasons. The Australian rider turned pro in 2017 with Ivan Spekenbrink's team, then known as Sunweb, and by the time his current contract expires, his tenure will have extended to seven seasons.

"They liked the way I worked and I like working with teams, so I think it was a pretty easy decision," Hamilton told Cycling News. 'They liked the way I worked and I like working with the team, so I think it was a pretty easy decision. It was very easy."

Hamilton spoke after the team's presentation in the Netherlands earlier this month. The presentation was somewhat overshadowed by the news that Jumbo Visma's Tiesj Benoot became the latest player to leave the team before his contract expired, a trend that began with Marcel Kittel in late 2015, Warren Barguil, Tom Dumoulin, Michael Matthews, Marc Hirsch, and the departure of Ilan van Wilder continued it. [Romain Bardet and John Degenkolb, who will return to the team in 2022 after a five-year hiatus at Trek Segafredo and Lotto Soudal, were staunch defenders of the DSM's way of working, despite the fact that they questioned it. They share Hamilton's view that the team's commitment to structure and egalitarian approach is a strength rather than a limitation.

"Teams have their own way of working, and that's why I'm very focused on the riders being treated equally and things like that," Hamilton said. 'You know what your calendar is going to look like early in the season, so you prepare for what you're going to do in that year. To be honest, I've never had a problem. It's reliable and it's a good way to work."

"At the end of the day, if [the departed riders] weren't happy, that's probably true for them, but it doesn't affect the other riders. Everyone here is happy and we have our ways.

Hamilton has also worked his way up the DSM hierarchy for years. After riding the Vuelta a España in his debut season, he was part of Tom Dumoulin's support guard for the 2018 Giro d'Italia title defense and finished eighth overall at the Tour de Pollogne the following year. 2020 Giro, at the foot of the Piacavallo, he was pacemaker He was a key player, helping teammates Wilco Kelderman and Jai Hindley to second and third place overall.

This season, Hamilton primarily supported Bardet, partnering the Frenchman in both the Giro and Vuelta. In Italy, he was impressive in the break on the rugged stage to Bagno di Romagna. There was mild disappointment, but no regrets. It wasn't that the timing wasn't right or anything," he said, "I just got beat by a stronger rider. Meanwhile in Spain, he finished third in El Barraco and sixth in the tumultuous final stage to Castro de Herville.

"As a GC-supported rider, you rarely get a chance, and when you do, you have to take it. So I can't not be happy to have finished in the top three in both the Giro and the Vuelta.

With countrymen Jai Hindley and Michael Stoller moving to Bora-Hansgrohe and Groupama FDJ, respectively, Hamilton will be an important support for Bardet in 2022.

"Looking back, I spent a lot of time with Romain this year, not only at the high altitude training camp, but also at the races," Hamilton said. "Because when I started cycling, he was already a star of the Tour de France. He is a great guy and I really appreciate all the work we put in for him. We spend a lot of time together in camp because it means that I know how hard he works and he knows how hard we work."

Bardet's seventh-place finish in the Giro was perhaps DSM's highest finish of a tumultuous early season. It was in stark contrast to Sunweb's remarkable results in the late, condensed 2020 season. Perhaps in 2020, the team's methodological approach was uniquely suited to the demands of a season interrupted by a pandemic.

"From a performance standpoint, there's not really a noticeable difference," said the team's director of marketing, Dr. Gerry Baker. I don't know how other teams did it, but we kept in touch with each other every week, had meetings, etc."

"At the time you might have thought, 'Why do we have to do this?' But looking back, all the meetings and all the assignments kept my brain occupied." Later, when the expedition was allowed to go again, the entire team was sent to the high altitude camp. Some did two three-week camps before the Giro. By the time the season started, I was motivated but not burned out."

The DSM will hope to replicate that spell in 2022, when Hamilton, only 26, will be one of the elders on the young rider roster. The months pass quickly on the World Tour.

"I never feel old, but I'm entering my sixth season as a professional. When I was starting out, I listened to people who had experiences like mine. So now I want to be a good role model and give advice to the younger guys," Hamilton said, switching between personal and collective aspirations for the new year.

"My personal goal is to take every chance I get on breakaways. In the bigger picture, I want to be the best GC support rider I can be. I really want to take it one step further. I don't just want to be a great GC support rider, I want to be a reliable rider who can take on the big mountains with the best of them."