Teams & Riders Team Visma - Lease a Bike

[Netserk]

That schedule worked out for Lance pretty well...that aside, I'm fine with Jonas only racing selectively. He's got two GTs on his plate this year.

armstrong didnt ride another gt in his tour years. vingegaard has planned two every year after his first tour win

armstrong never did anything of note in the spring stage race.

froome and contador are comparable to vingegaard. armstrong is not

Man, the armchair psychologists on this fourm are getting worse by the day. Vingegaard is aiming to ride pretty much the five biggest stage races in the world each and every year. What more do you want from a specialist stage racer?

i think it stems from his personality, how he handles media, and his first two post-tour seasons

first impressions can be sticky, no matter how much he races since then

 

[Netserk]

I think you miss the point here or maybe I am cause its nothing to do with Pogacar thats so irrelevant here.

Nobody has said he's avoiding Remco.

hmm

Vingegaard deliberatly avoids many of the biggest races where he would likely do well but is unlikely to beat Pogacar and Evenepoel

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm not sure how Vingegaard dodges exactly because he's going to the TdF for the GC for a 6th season in a row.

I suppose you could argue it's only the 5th season in a row he's going to the TdF for the GC.
In 2021 it just... kinda happened.

 

[Squire]

i think it stems from his personality, how he handles media, and his first two post-tour seasons

first impressions can be sticky, no matter how much he races since then

It's not just Vingegaard either. I'm sick and tired of how a lot of people on this forum invent things that supposedly goes on in the heads of bike riders, and project all sorts of insecurities onto them. Don't know why, this wasn't really the case to such extent ten years ago. Maybe it's a social media thing. If elite pro bike riders were such emotional train wrecks as some people here seem to like to think, the riders wouldn't be anywhere near being elite pro bike riders.

The top riders are concerned with maximizing performance and results in the races most important to them and the team, and will plan a calendar around where they can achieve that. Whether some rival may or may not ride Paris-Nice is quite far down the list of things influencing these decisions.

 

[red_flanders]

Yeah, that's a strange complaint to have about Vingegaard. When injuries haven't stopped him, he's been riding warmup race -> Paris-Nice/Tirreno -> Itzulia -> Dauphiné -> Tour -> Poland/Vuelta pretty much every year. The other riders know where to find him.

Racers seek out races, not opponents.

 

[red_flanders]

People simply looked forward to it because Jonas is a really good rider, and they wanted to see him against Remco. For most fans, thats all it is not all this other stuff. Its not a stretch to get that disappointment is shared by Jonas fans and non Jonas fans evidently.

Personally I could not care less about whether he does or doesn't face any particular rider. That's fan nonsense.

He's a great rider and a lot of folks think he'd be great in some of the hilly classics. That's really all there is to it. Ride a couple hilly classics dude, you're an important rider and it's good for the sport. Kind of a mystery to me why he doesn't. But it hardly keeps me up at night.

 

[Rackham]

Some interesting news today with Vingegaard's personal coach Tim Heemskerk leaving (he's been with Vinge since 2019). Mathieu Heijboer is stepping in to fill the role (he's also WvA's coach and of course still chief of performance for the team):

Succestrainer Team Visma | Lease a Bike vertrekt per direct

Tim Heemskerk, de succesvolle trainer van Jonas Vingegaard, vertrekt onverwacht bij Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Lees meer over zijn vertrek en toekomstplannen.

www.wielerflits.nl

 

[CyclistAbi]

Lets see if they can fend off RBH in the 2026 season as RBH is rather eager to move up in rankings.

 

[Rob5091]

Vingegaard not having the best build up this year - illness, crash and coach leaving. Visma having a tough time.

 

[James M]

 

[Tim Cahill]

Everything is going to ***

The is only one coach with the experience to steady the ship in such circumstances.

TURN ON THE SIGNAL AND HE WILL APPEAR

 

[Rackham]

Isn't Ten Hag currently unemployed? Back in the ancient glory days of 2022 AD, Visma employed his genius to pioneer total cycling as the pro-cycling equivalent of Dutch total football.

They could bring him back. Probably on the cheap. He could sit in the mini van with Broe.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Everything is going to ***

The is only one coach with the experience to steady the ship in such circumstances.

TURN ON THE SIGNAL AND HE WILL APPEAR

Samuel Sánchez or Sam Bewley?

 

[Red Rick]

Isn't Ten Hag currently unemployed? Back in the ancient glory days of 2022 AD, Visma employed his genius to pioneer total cycling as the pro-cycling equivalent of Dutch total football.

They could bring him back. Probably on the cheap. He could sit in the mini van with Broe.

Technical director at FC Twente, though I forgot if he starts after the 25/26 season or not.

 

[theyoungest]

Isn't Ten Hag currently unemployed? Back in the ancient glory days of 2022 AD, Visma employed his genius to pioneer total cycling as the pro-cycling equivalent of Dutch total football.

They could bring him back. Probably on the cheap. He could sit in the mini van with Broe.

I wouldn't say they employed Ten Hag's genius, Merijn Zeeman had one or two conversations with him. He's a guy who looks to other sports a lot, no wonder he's currently the general director of AZ Alkmaar football club.

Tim Heemskerk is a big loss for them. As Merijn Zeeman was. There's almost nobody left that developed their original philosophy of training and preparation. Some of them went to Red Bull, some of them to other sports (their former head of nutrition now fills that role at Ajax Amsterdam, for instance).

I think it would be better for them if Mathieu Heijboer left and Tim Heemskerk got his job. Never been too impressed with Heijboer, and Tim Heemskerk is one of the most successful trainers in cycling. Seems like an easy choice, if you ask me... but unfortunately Heijboer is the one pulling the strings.

 

[Mlarsen]

Is it time to sign Iñigo San Millán or Brett Sutton? They are probably available on the market. Jonas needs new input that doesn't come from the same Visma soup. I really think it could give him a new edge and some extra watts in the races

 

[Wyndbrook]

Is it time to sign Iñigo San Millán or Brett Sutton? They are probably available on the market. Jonas needs new input that doesn't come from the same Visma soup. I really think it could give him a new edge and some extra watts in the races

I met Sutton briefly many years ago. Not a shrinking violet.

 

[theyoungest]

Is it time to sign Iñigo San Millán or Brett Sutton? They are probably available on the market. Jonas needs new input that doesn't come from the same Visma soup. I really think it could give him a new edge and some extra watts in the races

I'm not sure Iñigo San Millán is the guy you want to hire... San Millán got replaced as Pogacar's trainer and Vingegaard hasn't been able to beat him ever since. Or maybe you were trolling.

I'm interested to know what Vingegaard thinks of these developments. He seemed to be pretty close with Tim Heemskerk, and now one month into the season Heemskerk is suddenly leaving after what seems to be a conflict about which approach to choose. He says there is no room for creativity and passion anymore. Something that lots of people have criticized Visma for over the years, which wasn't entirely true because the whole mindset of someone like Merijn Zeeman was about keeping the balance between the physical and the mental. The people in charge of that balance now all seem to have left.

Now what's left is the guys who, at least from the outside, seem to take themselves a little too seriously. Richard Plugge, Mathieu Heijboer, not people you want to have a beer with.

 

[Keldergoat]

Well, Heemskerk didn't manage to improve JV significantly in the last 1,5 years. His 2024 Tour level was at par with his 2025 Tour level, but in the former he had to endure a massive crash. Maybe a change of scenery isn't bad at all for him.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Well, Heemskerk didn't manage to improve JV significantly in the last 1,5 years. His 2024 Tour level was at par with his 2025 Tour level, but in the former he had to endure a massive crash. Maybe a change of scenery isn't bad at all for him.

Well, it's difficult to know if Jonas has reached his maximum abilities since he's worked with Heemskerk from the beginning with Jumbo. It will be interesting to see how well he does with a new coach. It sure seemed to help Pogi.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Everything is going to ***

The is only one coach with the experience to steady the ship in such circumstances.

TURN ON THE SIGNAL AND HE WILL APPEAR

I was going to make a joke about him having a perfect record against Slovenia, but it was sadly Slovakia he beat in that one match he had in charge for England. Anyway, they should sign McClaren instead. He already speaks Dutch fluently.

 

[Statze2]

Well Visma needs some positiv news. Tough January/February for the team. They do have strong riders who win races (van Aert, Brennan, Vingegaard and Jorgenson). But what they need most is riders stepping up and fill the gaps and create a new vision for the team. A lot of people doubting van Aert and waiting for the retirement announcement of Vingegaard.

Nordhagen, Tulett, Behrens, Piganzoli, Hagenes and Barre are potential riders who can step up and start suprising everyone. But none of them is a obvious "super" talent. Maybe they have such a talent in the Devo team?
If they are not able to create this vision and story, there only chance is to make a big signing for 2027 - otherwise Trek, RBH are passing Visma and Ineos, Decathlon are very close.

Maybe they also need a rebranding for the post Vingegaard era. They were a stage racing team with Vingegaard, Roglic, S. Yates, Kuss etc.
But after the retirement of Yates, the departure of Cian and Jorgenson being not the perfect fit for Grand Tours, and not a big GC talent in there lines they should maybe switch to another focus and create a new vision/story?

 

[Squire]

But after the retirement of Yates, the departure of Cian and Jorgenson being not the perfect fit for Grand Tours, and not a big GC talent in there lines they should maybe switch to another focus and create a new vision/story?

If Nordhagen is not a big GC talent, then who is?

 

[Netserk]

i consider brennan a talent

 

[Tim Cahill]

One clueless upper management mandarin trying to micromanage everything and just getting in the way? We’ve all been there.