Wilco Kelderman backs Visma culture and Vingegaard’s choices: “I can switch off — he can’t”

Kelderman is part of a small remaining group from the “golden generation” of Dutch Grand Tour riders, alongside Steven Kruijswijk (who will retire after 2026), Bauke Mollema and Wout Poels, and also Sam Oomen. The rider from Barneveld is under contract with Visma | Lease a Bike through 2027, but he has also noticed the shrinking talent pool in the Netherlands.

“In terms of depth, we don’t really have that many riders anymore,” he says. “I was talking about it with Bart Lemmen: we’ve got six Dutch guys in the team, but also four French, British, Italian and Belgian riders. We don’t have the numbers anymore. And Steven is going to stop, so we were already joking: who are we supposed to bring in? There aren’t any Dutch riders in the development team either.”

Visma | Lease a Bike’s Development Team currently has no Dutch riders, and Kelderman thinks he knows why. “These days there’s always management involved already, and I think that’s the difference. I only got a manager once I was already a pro,” says the former top talent.

“Times have changed. When I was young, I chose a team based on trust. Nowadays they’re working on it so early, and before they’re even juniors they practically already know they’ll become pro — and even which team they’ll join. Teams like Red Bull and UAE obviously have a lot to spend too,” he adds.

So yes, times have changed — but not the locations of the winter camps. In that sense, it still felt like a pretty familiar off-season for Kelderman. “I was in Mallorca with the family over Christmas and New Year, but it was bad weather there too. Like pretty much everywhere in Europe. Even on the Costa Blanca it was cold, I heard from Victor Campenaerts.”

Kelderman will start his season at the UAE Tour, before rolling into the plan towards the Giro d’Italia alongside Jonas Vingegaard. “This winter I didn’t really give much feedback in terms of preferences — the team knows what my strengths are,” says the Dutchman, who is also on standby for the Tour de France in July.

“The first part of the season is mainly about riding for others, but maybe towards the end of the year I’ll get my own chances again. That’s still fun too: being in those finales yourself. Compared to a few years ago, the top is a lot broader now — you really notice that many more teams and riders are operating at a higher level.”

That is simply what the sport has become, Kelderman believes. “There has definitely been a shift in approach. You spend more days away from home, the build-ups are longer, and everything is much more intense in terms of training and nutrition. As you get older, it’s harder to be away. My kids are seven and one-and-a-half now, so they’ll notice it too. But the motivation is still there to train hard, eat well, and all that.”

“It’s something I talk about with Jonas as well, because he’s in the same phase of life,” Kelderman says of his leader. “Doing everything right just costs a lot of energy — and that’s what makes being a pro cyclist so demanding. I can switch off sometimes and let things go a bit, but Jonas can’t do that. The camera is on him straight away. You sometimes hear people say: those guys have big contracts and earn loads. But it doesn’t work like that.”

Kelderman has lived through the sport’s shift into hyper-professionalism himself. “When I was young, I was already doing a lot of things the same way the young guys do now. But I don’t think I always did it in the right way. When I was 24, I really opened up and realised I had to enjoy it more.”

“That became the foundation, but still with the idea that you want to get everything out of it,” he continues. “That’s what I tell the young guys too: don’t forget you’re doing this because you enjoy it, and try not to stare at your Garmin all the time.” Kelderman rode the Vuelta a España last year with Ben Tulett, and this season he will, for example, line up at the Giro d’Italia with Davide Piganzoli.

“You try to involve those young guys and bring them into the responsibilities. A Grand Tour comes with a whole process, and that’s when you really get to know them. You also shouldn’t make things bigger than they are, because in the end it comes down to the fact those guys can’t do more than their best.”

It is experience speaking — something that has grown over the years. “You zoom out more. If I talk to my coach now, or with Grischa, it’s more about the team than about myself. It’s not necessarily about me anymore in this team, but more about the culture we have.” With plenty being said recently — following the departure of Simon Yates, Fem van Empel and Tim Heemskerk, along with criticism from some former riders — what does Visma’s culture actually mean to Kelderman?

“We have an open and direct culture,” he explains. “Everyone is fairly close to each other, and that’s important. The atmosphere is good, positive, and at the same time very professional. And there are so many people working at this team that there’s always someone you can go to.”