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Director of Visma-Lease a Bike makes controversial statement: “it is more difficult to win a Classic than a Grand Tour”

Merijn Zeeman admitted in a conversation with the podcast In het Wiel that, for Visma-Lease a Bike, it is so far more difficult to win a Classic race than a Grand Tour.

girodociclismo.com.br diretor da visma lease a bike afirma que e mais dificil vencer uma classica do que um grand tour image

“Maybe the team’s influence is a little less than in a Grand Tour. I see a difference there, but in our case it is simply because Mathieu Van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar are extremely good at this type of event”, said Zeeman.

If Wout Van Aert hadn’t encountered them and had to compete with competition from a few years earlier, he could have already won the Tour of Flanders, or Paris-Roubaix, several times, according to Zeeman. 

“They are extremely good, truly out of this world. It’s a huge job, beating them. When you see how Van der Poel attacks at Poggio, or how Pogacar runs the last forty kilometers of the Tour of Flanders, then you need to have an extremely good formation, to keep up with them.”

girodociclismo.com.br tadej pogacar lidera ranking uci joao almeida bem posicionado conheca os 50 primeiros tadej pogacar wint de ronde van vlaanderen na indrukwekkende solo
Tadej Pogacar during the attack that led to his victory in the 2023 Tour of Flanders

New training program

The team is really looking for a victory, against the two leaders of victories in Classics. “We have to see if we can do this, in a smarter way, than their teams. When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, it becomes very difficult to win. I’ve been working on it, all day again.”

WoutVan Aert’s new program, without the Cyclocross World Cups, Milan-San Remo and Tour de France, among others, should increase this possibility. 

“The choice not to send Wout to the Tour is really about optimizing him. How are we going to get the most out of it? Offering a different program. He will do something he has never done before. We could all see that he had to do something different, to make that leap.”

girodociclismo.com.br diretor da visma lease a bike afirma que e mais dificil vencer uma classica do que um grand tour image 1
Wout Van Aert receives harassment from fans during his short Cyclocross season

Same program many years ago, has been completely changed

“He has had the same program for many years, including the Cyclocross World Cups. There was tension everywhere. Everything had to be done as quickly as possible and in a short time. He won a stage at Paris-Nice, but it was also important for Roglic.” 

“Then he went to Milan-San Remo, so to cut it and see if it could be done differently. If it could be better. It was a great discussion and we really did it together.”

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