Matt Brennan won at the Vuelta a España, but Visma also celebrates in Britain, Germany and Belgium

Matt Brennan stole the show on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Expaña. After a strong and surprising (for Tadej Pogačar) attack from Wout van Aert, Brennan finished off the move in emphatic style. But Visma | Lease a Bike can also look back with satisfaction on a jam-packed week of racing in Germany, Belgium, and Great Britain. The Dutch team was active on three fronts and made its mark in three races. With one stage victory and numerous podium finishes, the final assessment for the yellow-and-black squad is overwhelmingly positive.

Visma | Lease a Bike didn’t secure a victory in the Tour of Great Britain, but that was to be expected given the dominance of Lorena Wiebes. She won four of the five stages, leaving just one for the rest of the field. That stage was claimed by Kim Le Court, who also sealed her overall victory with that uphill win.

Visma had a key asset in Nienke Veenhoven for the sprint opportunities in England, but because the course was never truly flat, the 22-year-old sprint powerhouse was only able to really test herself twice. She finished fourth once and sixth once. The spotlight on the team fell on Femke de Vries, who still had strong legs after an excellent Tour de France.

In fact, 32-year-old De Vries finished fifth in the overall standings, thanks largely to a fourth-place finish in the third stage, which was won by Le Court. “I gave it my all,” said a happy and surprised De Vries through the team’s channels. “I didn’t expect to finish fifth on this course, since I didn’t think it would suit me.”

"It's great to see that I can now compete on the short, explosive climbs. That gives me confidence for the upcoming races," said the Dutch rider. Coach Jan Boven was also satisfied, even though a spot on the final podium had been the goal. “Femke showed that she was on top of her game every day, and we didn’t make any mistakes in that regard. Unfortunately, the podium wasn’t within reach, but Femke has once again proven she can put in a strong overall performance.”

In the Belgian men’s stage race last week, there was also a dominant force named Jasper Philipsen. The Belgian rider from Alpecin-Premier Tech won three stages and the overall classification, and then there was Jonathan Milan, who also capitalized on a sprint opportunity. Visma | Lease a Bike didn’t have a true sprinter on the team, but Filippo Fiorelli did make his presence felt.

The 31-year-old Italian ultimately finished tenth in the overall standings. “I think we can be very satisfied with the performances we achieved here,” team manager Marc Reef said in a positive assessment. Given that the team finished with only three riders due to crashes, two solid results were the best the team could have hoped for.

Because in addition to Fiorelli, there was also the youth jersey for the talented Pietro Mattio. “It feels good to have won a youth classification in a WorldTour race for the first time,” said the Italian. “It wasn’t my goal at first, but when I found out on the third day that I was wearing the orange jersey, I decided to go for it.”

Reef concludes: “We had quite a few setbacks this week with riders who were forced to drop out due to crashes. Nevertheless, we kept our spirits up and held our own. With several top-ten finishes, a tenth-place finish in the overall standings, and the win in the youth classification, we can look back on a successful week.'

Finally, the Tour of Germany —and you guessed it: here, too, there was one rider who dominated the race. Isaac del Toro won a stage, lost one on Day 4, and secured the overall victory. Visma | Lease a Bike, however, was the main challenger to the Mexican rider from UAE Emirates-XRG, who on Day 2 had no answer to Louis Barré, who won a stage solo.

The Frenchman was unable to keep up with Del Toro on Day 4, but he did finish the Lidl Deutschland Tour in second place overall. An excellent performance by the 26-year-old, who had also placed fourth in the Tour of Poland. “I’m incredibly happy with my second-place finish,” Barré said on Sunday evening.

"At first, the course wasn't exactly my cup of tea, because I prefer something a little tougher. But I felt good this past week, and it was great to race aggressively as a team every day. It’s really wonderful that this has been rewarded with a stage win and a spot on the final podium.”

Team manager Gäetan Pons had similar comments. He saw a strong team all week, and with one stage victory, the team also achieved its goal. “The fact that Louis finished second behind Del Toro, one of the best riders in the peloton, is an outstanding achievement. I look back on the race with a sense of satisfaction, and I’m proud of what the team has shown over the past few days.”