Who are the next Vingegaards and Van Aerts at Visma | Lease a Bike? “A very strong generation is coming”

Just think of the names that have made the step up in recent seasons: Olav Kooij, Per Strand Hagenes, Jørgen Nordhagen, Matthew Brennan, the Van Dijke brothers… and the list goes on. This year, Tim Rex and Pietro Mattio also moved up. So how does Visma keep identifying and nurturing this kind of talent?

“It’s important that we bring in the riders with the greatest potential,” De Groot explained via the team’s official website. “Those are not necessarily the best riders at that age, but the riders with the biggest possible opportunity to develop. When scouting, you look at different aspects. Besides their performances on the bike, you also look at behaviour, sporting background, family background, character, and so on. Those are all important factors that play a role.”

So who are the next names expected to push through? “A very strong generation is coming,” De Groot said. “Ashlin Barry, Henry Hobbs and Francesco Baruzzi are three world-class (Classics) riders. We also deliberately scouted two climbing talents in Matej Pitak and Sven Mernik. Fabio Segatta is an all-rounder who can survive a number of climbs. And then we have Aldo Taillieu.”

“He is already a year older than the rest,” De Groot continued. “We wanted him a few years ago, but he chose another team at the time. He’s a very good time triallist, Classics rider and lead-out man, but he can also finish well himself. With Matisse Van Kerckhove, Elliot Rowe, William Smith, Ian Kings, Cedric Keppens, Patryk Goszczurny, Jonas Høydal, and Mikal Grimstad Uglehus, we have a really nice squad.”

Van Kerckhove — who rode a very strong race at Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne — is set to become the 15th rider to graduate from the development team to the WorldTour set-up in 2027. “That’s almost forty percent of all riders who have been part of our development team,” De Groot noted. “And that’s not even counting the riders who move on to other WorldTour teams. That shows we’re doing something right.”

Still, De Groot admits there is one major milestone missing from the original brief. He was tasked with developing a rider who would one day win a Grand Tour or a Monument — and that has not happened yet. “That still hasn’t happened,” he said. “But we have now won stages in a Grand Tour with Olav, and with Matthew we’ve won multiple races at WorldTour level. I wouldn’t rule it out happening in the foreseeable future. It would be really cool if we can make that happen.”