Sports Director, Merijn Zeeman, stated that preparations for the next Visma-Lease a Bike Classic season are already underway. “We won five Classics last year and that was very good, but of course the big objective is the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix”, highlights Zeeman in conversation with GCN.
Tour of Flanders will be different without Tadej Pogacar
At the Tour of Flanders, defending champion Tadej Pogacar will be absent as his plans have changed this year, focusing on the Giro d’Italia. “That will be a big difference, not having Tadej Pogacar. He was by far the best last year and it would be incredibly difficult to beat him if he was there,” admits Zeeman optimistically.
Mathieu Van der Poel will be the big obstacle
However, one major obstacle will still be present in the spring classics, Mathieu van der Poel. “He’s a super runner and has won twice,” says Zeeman.
“He is the big favorite for these races in my opinion. Last year he was excellent in every important race. He will be in shape at the most important moments of the year and that makes our job very clear too. We need to be better than last year to win it. It will be a challenge whether we can get close to him.”
Planned team changes
Although the core of the Team Visma | Lease a Bike will probably be the same as in 2023, there have been some changes.
“The big loss is Nathan Van Hooydonck. He was super important and will be greatly missed”, says Zeeman. “On the other hand, we have Jan Tratnik and Matteo Jorgenson, both of whom are great additions to the group.”
“However, there are other young guys coming through like Tim and Mick van Dijke, young guys coming through the development team. They will also try to take your place, so we have enough competition. We have a very strong team”, concludes Zeeman.
