Milan Vader will lead Visma-Lease a Bike at the Tour Down Under
The Dutch all-rounder will be joined by Robert Gesink and WorldTour debutants Loe van Belle and Johannes Staune-Mittet on the team's seven-man squad
Logan Jones-Wilkins
Junior Writer - North America
© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images
Milan Vader at last year's Tour Down Under, his first race back from his crash in 2022
Team Visma-Lease a Bike will support Milan Vader at the Tour Down Under. The Dutch former mountain biker will be in the second year of his comeback from a horrific crash that nearly ended his career in 2022 when he fell down a ravine at the Tour of the Basque Country.
Last season saw Vader come back to the peloton in strong fashion, taking the win at the Tour of Guangxi, the final WorldTour stage race of the year. Leadership at Tour Down Under, nonetheless, is an important step up for Vader as he moves beyond the comeback trail and towards the promise he should on the mountain bike as a younger rider.
“Milan [Vader] is aiming for the rankings,” Loe van Belle, his teammate who is making his WorldTour debut at the race, told the podcast Clubhuis Team Lucas. “If you see how he won [the Tour of Guangxi], we think that he might also be able to achieve a result on this course and in this race. There may be great opportunities in the sprints and hills, but we'll just see.”
Joining Vader and Van Belle in Australia will be Visma-Lease a Bike’s elder statesman Robert Gesink, who will be starting his 18th and final season of his career with the same team, Johannes Staune-Mittet, a promising recruit who will also be making his WorldTour debut, and domestiques Mick van Dijke and Lennard Hofstede.
Visma-Lease a Bike at the Tour Down Under
One more rider is expected to be announced before the race, as the Tour Down Under allocates seven roster spots per team.
The Tour Down Under will start on January 16. Stay tuned to the GCN website to stay up to date will all our race coverage and check out our Tour Down Under race page for the latest on the first WorldTour race of the year.
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