Dutch analyst Zonneveld understands Visma | Lease a Bike’s Tour selection without Dutch riders but Boogerd doesn’t: "It’s all about business now"

With few real mountain stages and a fair number of sprint and hill stages, the Giro, unlike previous years, seems to want to get a larger group with different riders at the start, according to Zonneveld. "The route seems very interesting for Wout van Aert," he repeats the texts of his Eurosport colleague Jan Hermsen earlier this week.

According to the AD journalist, the Giro will undoubtedly have hoped for the most prominent names at the start, but they choose the Tour de France. 'The organization itself knows that the chances of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at the start are slim, so the Giro has tried to make the route attractive to a large group of riders, with the hope that some of the top riders will still make the trip to Italy.'

According to Zonneveld, Van Aert's chances of facing Mathieu van der Poel in La Corsa Rosa seem slim. "Of course, it is also a route Van der Poel might fancy, but the Tour also seems to have anticipated Van der Poel's arrival with the first week. And with the World Mountain Bike Championships in mind, the Giro-Tour combination is almost impossible, especially if he's planning another busy spring."

"There is a chance that Van Aert will ride in pink for two weeks," Zonneveld continued. "Until last week, there have been almost no tough mountain stages. I think it mainly depends on the riders whether it will be a spectacular or very boring Giro. There are plenty of opportunities, but if they wait until the last week, it may remain undecided for a long time. Even though many riders will be thinking: 'This year is my chance.' But I don't think Van Aert can win the Giro."

Once Van Aert has had fun in the Giro, the Belgian may start preparing for the Tour de France, where he will again be an essential part of the selection surrounding the two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard. What is surprising about the Tour team of Visma | Lease a Bike is that there is no place for a Dutch rider.

According to Zonneveld, this is not surprising in the current era. "As a Dutch team, it is essential to keep Dutch riders on your team, but if you want to win the Tour de France, you go with the strongest team. And the team that Visma | Lease a Bike has formed around Vingegaard is simply extremely good."

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According to Zonneveld, it should not happen too often that a Dutch formation goes to the Tour de France without Dutch riders. However, the problem lies with Dutch cycling and not with the Dutch teams, who line up their best team each year for the biggest race in the world, Zonneveld points out in his column in AD. "Nor do I fear that it is a one-off."

He explains: "The successes of the Dutch top athletes in recent years have camouflaged a problem: the bottom of the pyramid has slowly but surely crumbled. Cycling in the Netherlands has been under pressure for years; there are fewer and fewer races, and fewer young people are joining cycling clubs."

"And even though teams such as Visma and Picnic-PostNL are doing their best to bring in Dutch talent, it seems to be getting harder every year, if only because the pond they are fishing from is shrinking. That won't get any better in the short term - if you only look at the problem of bike support, it will be a tough job in the coming seasons to organize any cycling races in the Netherlands," it concludes.

While Zonneveld understands that Visma is not taking Dutch riders to the Tour, others are more critical—for example, Michael Boogerd. With sorrow, the former Rabobank rider sees how his old team has changed into an international team without a real national identity. "No, I don't think this is normal," he told Het Nieuwsblad. "And yes, I find this very unfortunate. It shows once again that Visma | Lease a Bike is not concerned about the level, image, or identity of Dutch cycling. They only want to be the best team in the world."

"And does that mean there is no place for a Dutch rider? Oh well. It's all about business now," the former Dutch champion rambles on. "How can you ever call this team the flagship of Dutch cycling again? Times have changed. For Rabobank, Dutch identity was crucial at the time. It wanted to help develop cycling in the Netherlands. That is no longer a priority today."

"Also, look at Visma's development team. How many Dutch riders did it attract this winter? One? Two? Even fewer? (Out of Visma | LaB's eight new riders, but none are Dutch.) So it is obvious, while in Rabobank, that the 'Dutch' policy did pay off. During the Tour, the entire Netherlands sympathized with the team. I am curious how it will be now. The general public wants to see Dutch riders. It will be tough for the Dutch to cheer for Visma," concludes Boogerd.