Dutch riders from Visma | Lease a Bike not in the Tour, and the bikes of Van Baarle and Campenaerts play a role in this

During the press event in La Nucia, Spain, the Dutch formation presented the names for the first two grand tours. This year's newcomer, Yates, will try to capture the pink jersey in the Giro. He was close in 2018, but a setback in the final week ended his season. With help from Van Aert, he will hunt for the overall win.

Wout will team up with sprint bomb Kooij in search of stage wins and the pink jersey in the opening weekend. They will be assisted by Dylan van Baarle, Wilco Kelderman, and Steven Kruijswijk. Bart Lemmen, who also rode the Tour de France last year, and Edoardo Affini complete the selection.

There will be a large Dutch delegation in Italy, but the opposite is true in France. According to sports director Grischa Niermann, there is no place for Dutch riders. Jonas Vingegaard will, as expected, be the leader in France. He will receive support from a solid team, with Yates and Van Aert from the Giro to support him.

Furthermore, Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss will be on duty in the high mountains, while Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts, and Christophe Laporte will be the Killer Bees' other workers. Campenaerts was favored over Van Baarle, partly because - like Jan Tratnik - he has practically the same size bike as leader Vingegaard and can quickly provide him with a new bike in case of bad luck.

It is a (negative?) novelty for the team because since it appeared at the start of the Tour in 1996 as Rabobank, there has always been at least one compatriot on the team. By the way, in 2022, Kruijswijk was the only Dutch rider in the Tour selection for Jumbo-Visma. However, we should note that the team is still subject to change, as we have often seen in recent years.

How did they make those choices at Visma | Lease a Bike? "Our task in the Giro is to provide support on the flat with Olav and uphill for Simon. Guys like Steven, Dylan, and Wilco can do both. They can ride up front for the sprints, make the race tough in front of Wout when needed, and go long uphill with Simon. Those all-rounders are very important in a grand tour, and you need them," Niermann explained to IDLProCycling.com.

"We had to make that choice for the Giro and Tour. Wout and Simon are the only ones doing both, but the reality is that these selections are often still adjusted compared to the selections we come up with in December," the German stated. "It is true that no Dutch riders are going to the Tour. We remain a Dutch team and are proud of that, but we are becoming increasingly international. Regarding performance, we don't look at the country on their passport—only the quality and strengths. We also have a powerful team, with which we have had to make decisions at the expense of Dylan or Wilco. And those choices can be challenging."

CEO Richard Plugge agrees. "We don't think about the fact that they are from the Netherlands. We want to win the Tour as a team, and we need the best team for that. As a Dutch person, I say it would be very nice if we could train Dutch riders who could win the Tour, but as a team, we mainly want to win the Tour. It is an international sport, and we want to score, although you never know what will happen. The manager stated that anyone who doesn't go to the Tour won't like that. 'We think we have a better chance with other riders now, so we are most capable of winning the Tour with those eight. That's how it works in top sport."

Yet it's not that he won't be there in July due to Van Baarle's quality (or lack thereof). "Victor has the same bike size as Jonas, and he selected Jan Tratnik, who saved Jonas on his Tour last year in a gravel stage," Niermann informed us that those are also things or factors we must consider between Dylan and Victor. "Victor returned to us because he really wanted a certain role and expressed that. He wants to be a domestique for the best riders in the world, and after our talks, I believe in that."

The 33-year-old Belgian also emphasizes this in conversation with Sporza. "At Lotto, I also had a good time, but you notice that we are dealing with the best of the best here. It is one of the biggest teams in the world, and it is very well organized. It's awe-inspiring. They told me from the team that the Tour is a very nice goal, but it would be difficult to include me as early as 2025. But that is not necessarily true: I found my place in the team."

His cycling buddy and a successful training camp with Vingegaard were helpful. "One of the most important things is that I can withstand the stress even in hectic conditions," he emphasizes. And then about his Tour leader: "That was quite exciting: sharing a room with the prominent leader. In view of the Tour, it is not bad to see if there is a good click. If you conclude that things don't work out after a week, that would be an argument for taking someone else. Fortunately, it was a lot of fun. We both recently became fathers, and that immediately created a bond. I also think he talks quite a lot. We often thought at night: we should turn off the light and go to sleep."

Jonas Vingegaard
Wout van Aert
Simon Yates
Matteo Jorgenson
Sepp Kuss
Tiesj Benoot
Victor Campenaerts
Christophe Laporte

Simon Yates
Wout van Aert
Olav Kooij
Bart Lemmen
Steven Kruijswijk
Dylan van Baarle
Wilco Kelderman
Edoardo Affini