Why Visma | Lease a Bike Keeps Talented Riders Out of Grand Tours

Visma | Lease a Bike is on track to win two Grand Tours again this season, having also finished second in the Tour de France. Outstanding results. But what stands out: these performances were mostly achieved by experienced line-ups. This while talent development is so important for the Dutch WorldTeam. Grischa Niermann explained how this works earlier this year at WielerFlits.

Simon Yates won the Giro d’Italia, Jonas Vingegaard finished second in the Tour de France, and the Danish leader is also on course to compete for the overall win in the Vuelta a España. Visma | Lease a Bike is thus approaching their stellar year of 2023 again, when it made history by winning at least one Grand Tour overall title in all three races. But what is noticeable this year is that it achieved this with ‘only’ fifteen of the 29 riders. No fewer than eleven of those fifteen belong to the older half of the team. Missing from that group are Christophe Laporte, Dan McLay, Tosh Van der Sande, and Julien Vermote.

Coincidence or not, it is precisely those last three riders who will leave Visma | Lease a Bike this coming winter. The Frenchman was sidelined for months but would normally have ridden in the Tour de France. Of the youngest fourteen riders on the team, only Axel Zingle (26), Matteo Jorgenson (26), Ben Tulett (24), and Olav Kooij (23) have ridden in a Grand Tour. But why are other young talents getting so few chances in Grand Tours at a team that even launched the special White Jersey Group? We posed that question to Niermann earlier this year.

The German, as Head of Racing, is responsible for race selection. He chose to have experienced riders like Edoardo Affini (Giro-Tour), Victor Campenaerts (Tour-Vuelta), Wilco Kelderman (Giro-Vuelta), Sepp Kuss (Tour-Vuelta), Wout van Aert (Giro-Tour), Dylan van Baarle (Giro-Vuelta), and Simon Yates (Giro-Tour) ride two Grand Tours, just like Jorgenson and Vingegaard (both Tour-Vuelta) did. The list is completed with Tiesj Benoot (Tour), Kooij, Steven Kruijswijk, Bart Lemmen (all Giro), Tulett and Zingle (both Vuelta). For the last one, it was only two days.

Clear vision from Niermann
So there was no room this year for top talents like Cian Uijtdebroeks, Jørgen Nordhagen or Matthew Brennan, but also not for riders like Attila Valter, Tom Gloag, and Tijmen Graat. “We go to Grand Tours to score,” Niermann points out. “There can be a spot for a young rider to learn for the future. But generally, we want to go to Grand Tours to win. What do you need for that: very good climbers or classics riders. All-round helpers who can do it all. It should be clear that Visma | Lease a Bike does not have 25 of those.”

The Head of Racing then names a few random riders. “With guys like Wilco, Dylan, Tiesj, and Victor, there is always a chance they ride two Grand Tours in a year. They possess the qualities that are so important in a Grand Tour. You need riders who can shelter someone from the wind on flat stages, who ensure the leader stays in the right position when it gets tough or can create echelons themselves, who can keep a strong tempo uphill or prepare a sprint and protect the leader in the chaos.”

According to Niermann, this is a very universal role. The Vuelta is especially a race to give young riders a chance to grow into that role. In the current selection, only Tulett fits that description. “That depends on the development of a talent. There were many young men – like Ben, but also Cian, Tom Gloag, and Per Strand Hagenes – who were eligible for the Vuelta. But it was very clear: priority A is to win the Vuelta with Jonas. Priority B is to bring a young rider for their development.”

More chances in 2026?
Because Visma | Lease a Bike realized their talents need more chances to learn to win themselves, management created the White Jersey Group. This core of ten talents within the WorldTeam has a special program of twelve races in which they can ride for their own opportunities. The team has also promised to support the talents with special preparations to perform as well as possible. Thanks in part to that program, Tulett forced a chance in the Vuelta and Uijtdebroeks blossomed this late summer in the Tour de l’Ain.

It is possible that the White Jersey Group project will also ensure that some of those ten talents do get chances in Grand Tours in 2026. Of the current fifteen riders at Visma | Lease a Bike who rode Grand Tours this year, three will leave: Van Baarle, Benoot, and Kooij. Of the newcomers, Bruno Armirail, Owain Doull, Filippo Fiorelli, Timo Kielich, and Davide Piganzoli do have Grand Tour experience, but the team will still need to integrate them into line-ups. Meanwhile, a large part of the talents already know how Visma | Lease a Bike works.