2025 Preview #25 – Visma-Lease A Bike

All images: Wikimedia Commons

2024, back to “normal” standards

After a crazy 2023 season during which they won 69 times, including the general classifications of all three Grand Tours, it would have been very difficult for Visma-Lease a Bike to improve in 2024. This was confirmed with the men in yellow raising their arms “only” 32 times, in a season where they suffered from numerous injuries.

One of the only riders who spared from the crashes was the American Matteo Jorgenson, who was the most consistent rider for the Dutch team throughout the season. Indeed, the American managed to win his first World Tour general classification at Paris-Nice, before raising his arms at the Dwars door Vlaanderen and finishing second at the Critérium du Dauphiné. He also concluded the Tour de France in 8^th position and was the most reliable domestique for Jonas Vingegaard.

The Dane couldn’t keep his throne on the French summer roads, handicapped in his preparation by his horrendous crash during the Itzulia Basque Country, and was beaten by his old rival Tadej Pogačar. However, he still managed to add two World Tour races to his trophy cabinet with the Tour of Poland and Tirreno-Adriatico. Another main leader of Visma-Lease a Bike who suffered from a very nasty crash in 2024 was Wout van Aert. The Belgian couldn’t compete in the two Flanders monuments after he fractured his collarbone and some ribs at the Dwars door Vlaanderen. He managed to return for the Tour de France where he helped Vingegaard before taking the start of his first Vuelta where he won three stages before being forced to abandon due to another crash, on the road to Lagos de Covadonga.

In part due to these injuries, Visma-Lease a Bike did not perform well at the Monuments, despite their incredible roster on paper. Indeed, they didn’t record any top 10s in the five biggest one-day races in the World, their best result being the 12^th place of Tiesj Benoot at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Despite that, the results of riders such as Christophe Laporte (winner of Paris-Tours and Olympic bronze medallist) and Olav Kooij (eight wins in 2024, including seven at World Tour level), allowed Visma-Lease a Bike to finish the season in second place in the UCI classification, confirming their status of “superteam” in the cycling world.  

Consistent improvement

Despite already having one of the best rosters in the peloton in 2024, Visma-Lease a Bike reinforced themselves during the interseason, with a mix of world-class riders and rising stars, that could form the future of the Dutch team.

The main arrival for Visma-Lease a Bike this winter is undeniably Simon Yates. At 32 years old, the British rider left the GreenEdge structure, that he joined in 2014, for the first time in his career. The native of Bury is one of the greatest climbers on the planet and will strengthen the mountains squad of his new team, adding talent but also experience. Indeed, Simon Yates already triumphed on a Grand Tour, during the 2018 Vuelta. He also has in his trophy cabinet one Tirreno-Adriatico as well as numerous stage wins on the biggest races in the calendar. Even if the 2024 season was more complicated for Adam’s twin on the European continent, he still managed to triumph at the AlUla Tour, adding one more general classification to his pedigree. In 2025, Simon Yates should be the leader of Visma-Lease a Bike at the Giro, before taking on the Tour de France in support of leader Jonas Vingegaard.

Besides Yates, Visma-Lease a Bike’s efforts during this interseason were mainly focused on the Classics, after a disappointing campaign last year. In order to help, the former hour record holder Victor Campenaerts has signed with Richard Plugge’s team. The Belgian, who won a stage of the last Tour de France, will add all of his experience throughout the season and will use his amazing qualities of time trialist on flat roads. In more hilly races, the Frenchman Axel Zingle will add depth to the collective. The former Cofidis rider was omnipresent in the French calendar last season and will hope that this move will allow him to climb a step in his young career. The main objective of the native of Mulhouse this season will be the Ardennes Classics, where he could very well be one of the surprises.

Alongside these riders, Visma-Lease a Bike’s management team chose to bet on several young riders for 2025 and the future. Indeed, five young riders will discover the World Tour level with the Dutch team in 2025. Among them, the U23 World champion Niklas Behrens could be very helpful during bunch finishes, as well as his British teammate Matthew Brennan. At only 19 years old, the latter already scored a podium with the professional team on the first stage of the Tour Down Under and could become one of the fastest men in the peloton in the years to come. When the road rises, two young Dutchmen, Menno Huising and Tijmen Graat, could find themselves at an advantage, while former cross-country skier Jørgen Nordhagen should be one of the key riders to focus on this season, one with enormous potential. Finally, Dan McLay completes Visma-Lease a Bike’s 2025 roster to fulfil the role of lead-out man for Olav Kooij.

Can Jonas Vingegaard beat Pogačar?

Over the past few years, Jonas Vingegaard has imposed himself as one of the best climbers on the planet, if not the best. After winning the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, the Dane had to relinquish his title to his rival Tadej Pogačar last season, after a complicated preparation. If the Slovenian seems to have climbed another step in 2024, it will be interesting to see if the native of Hillerslev will be able to beat him in the mountains, as he did in the past.

Vingegaard revealed himself to the cycling world in 2021, at the Tour de France. Indeed, though the Dane had already performed as a teammate at the Vuelta or even as a leader at the UAE Tour before, no one was expecting him to finish on the podium of the greatest race in the world in Paris that year. The Dane confirmed his potential in the following years, triumphing at the French Grand Tour but also in numerous World Tour stage races.

Last season, Vingegaard started his season extremely well by winning the general classification of O Gran Camino along with three stages, before dominating Tirreno-Adriatico. However, his preparation for the Tour de France, his main objective of the season, was interrupted by his terrible crash at Itzulia Basque Country. The doctors were not even sure that the Dane could defend his title on the roads of France, but the 28-year-old managed to return just in time. However, he conceded more than six minutes to Tadej Pogačar throughout the three weeks, finishing on the second step of the podium just as in 2021. Vingegaard closed 2024 at the Tour of Poland, adding another World Tour race to his trophy cabinet.

2025 will be a key year for Jonas Vingegaard. Indeed, the double winner of the Tour de France will return to the French Grand Tour with the ambition of triumphing once again. His already legendary rivalry with Tadej Pogačar will be watched attentively by all the cycling fans, who will hope for more suspense than last year. It will be interesting to see if the Dane will be able to compete with his Slovenian rival and give the spectators an incredible battle. After the Tour, round two of this duel could happen at the Vuelta, where Vingegaard will seek his first title after a second place behind his teammate Sepp Kuss in 2023.

Wout van Aert: the call of Flanders

Wout van Aert is one of the faces of the international peloton. At 30 years old, the Belgian already has an amazing career behind him, winning at all kind of races. Indeed, the man of Herentals has already won in the mountains of the Tour de France, the cobbles of Belgium and even the white roads of Strade Bianche. However, one thing is still missing from Van Aert’s trophy cabinet: a Flanders Monument.

Van Aert joined Jumbo-Visma in 2019, after some good seasons at the lower level. The triple cyclocross World champion has since become one of the best riders in the peloton, shining with his consistency and his ability to perform in every type of race. His rivalry with Mathieu van der Poel during the Classics period is one of the most intense and yet respectful of the peloton, showing the class of both riders. However, in the past few years, this opposition seems to have turned the way of the Dutchman, winner of several Monuments in the past five years. At the same time, since his triumph at Milano-Sanremo in 2020, Van Aert has not been out of the top ten of the Monuments he has participated in, though without being able to take victory.

Last season, Van Aert’s bad luck struck again right before the main objective of his season. Indeed, after his win at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and his third places at Omloop and E3, Van Aert seemed in shape to challenge van der Poel at the upcoming Ronde van Vlaanderen. However, the Belgian suffered from a bad crash at Dwars, his final preparation before his targeted race. Though he managed later in the season to win three stages at the Vuelta (before crashing and having to DNF) and also an Olympic medal in the ITT, Wout van Aert will surely be on a quest for revenge in 2025.

On the programme of the former Belgian champion, the Flanders Classics seems to be the greatest objective of the beginning of the season. The former winner of Milano-Sanremo will not return to la Primavera in order to focus mainly on the cobbled races, from Omloop to Paris-Roubaix. At 30 years old, the years are passing for Van Aert and he would deserve to finally raise his arms either at the Ronde or at the Hell of the North. To accompany him in these races, the former Tour de France green jersey winner will count on a strong collective, with riders such as Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot or Matteo Jorgenson who could be considered as outsiders of the race. Let’s hope for Wout Van Aert that 2025 will finally be the year where he will triumph at a cobbled monument; it would be deserved for one of the greatest riders of the past decade.

Dominant in the mountains

Around their Danish leader Jonas Vingegaard, Richard Plugge and his staff have built a true armada for the mountainous races, becoming one of the most powerful teams in this domain. The recent transfer windows confirmed this ambition of the team to shine when the road rises and to try to repeat their incredible performance of 2023, when the team triumphed on the general classification of the three Grand Tours, with three different riders.

In 2025, the main man for the Dutch outside of Jonas Vingegaard should be Simon Yates. As mentioned earlier, the former winner of La Vuelta will take on the Giro as the main leader of the team, with the ambition of adding another Grand Tour to his trophy cabinet. To help the British rider during those three weeks, the experienced Wilco Kelderman and Steven Kruijswijk should be the ones working on the different ascents. They have both already succeeded at the Italian Grand Tour, as Kelderman finished third in 2020 while his Dutch teammate came close to winning in 2016, wearing the pink jersey before crashing on a descent.

If the Giro will be full of experienced riders for Visma-Lease a Bike, the Tour de France should see even more talent around Jonas Vingegaard. First of all, the American Sepp Kuss will have at heart the aim of proving that he is still one of the best climbers in the international peloton after a more complicated season. Indeed, the native of Durango maybe paid for his efforts of 2023, during which he took part in the Giro and the Tour de France before bringing home the general classification of La Vuelta. His teammate and countryman Matteo Jorgenson should also be a key part of the Dutch team in the mountains. A complete rider, Jorgenson proved last season that he was very reliable, as he triumphed during Paris-Nice, before finishing second at the Critérium du Dauphiné and eighth at the Tour de France.

Even outside of these riders, Visma-Lease a Bike does not lack talent in the mountains, especially with a young generation knocking at the door. Though Cian Uijtdebroeks already has two World Tour seasons behind him, the Belgian remains very young and should be watched carefully by his opponents. The same goes for the Brits Ben Tulett and Thomas Gloag, while Jørgen Nordhagen and Tijmen Graat will surely try to take all the opportunities to show themselves at the highest level.

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Alpecin-Deceuninck, Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain-Victorious, Cofidis, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ, INEOS Grenadiers, Intermarché-Wanty, Lidl-Trek, Movistar, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Soudal-QuickStep, Team Jayco AlUla, Team Picnic PostNL