Winning start 'extra special' for Visma-Lease a Bike following Primož Roglič departure

Visma-Lease a Bike made history at the weekend, becoming the first team in history to win Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice in the same year – a feat that even they weren’t expecting given the loss of Primož Roglič over the winter.

The Slovenian, who had won Tirreno twice and Paris-Nice once, moved to Bora-Hansgrohe at the start of the year, and while Jonas Vinegaard took a familiar-feeling victory in Italy, few expected Matteo Jorgenson to fill the Roglič-shaped void and hold off Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in France.

“The stats say it’s the best season start ever, and we were very proud to know that we’re the first team to win Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico in the same year, which is of course very special,” sports director Merijn Zeeman told GCN on a call this week.

“It makes it extra special because we lost Primož and no one thought that on paper we’d fight for the win in both races without him. Matteo took a huge step forward, and he made the impossible, possible.”

Read more: Matteo Jorgenson reaps reward of ‘special’ leadership opportunity at Paris-Nice

While Jorgenson certainly stepped up, Vingegaard’s domination in Italy was jaw-dropping. The Dane had no competition, winning back-to-back mountain stages and sealing the overall title by over a minute, with Juan Ayuso taking second. Riders expressed their feelings during the race, with several competitors stating that Vinegaard was simply on another level.

“Some days earlier they said the same about Tadej Pogačar in Strade Bianche, and I think they are right,” Zeeman said.

“When they are on parcours like this, they’re both very special riders. Both of them are super strong and Jonas finished off some very strong teamwork in Tirreno and had an attack that no one could respond to. That’s very promising to see.”

Read more: Visma-Lease a Bike make history in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico - GCN Racing News Show

Although the team continues to build up wins, the high morale was tempered by the fact that Wilco Kelderman crashed and sustained a fractured collarbone in Paris-Nice. The veteran all-rounder still managed to finish the race in eighth overall but was required to have surgery on Monday. He will miss of block of training, and his participation in the Ardennes Classics is now uncertain. The Dutch rider was scheduled to race the Giro d’Italia in May alongside Wout van Aert, and the team remain confident that the plan will not need adjusting. 

“I’m still counting on Wilco. Let’s hope that he makes it. We had a big training block for him coming up, no other races, apart from the Ardennes. It’s a collarbone break and it can go well but it can take a while too with pain, so the coming weeks will decide,” Zeeman said.

“Unfortunately, he has a lot of experience in these sorts of comebacks but that can be an advantage. He knows better than anyone else what it takes to come back to his best level. He’s had a lot of broken bones in his career, and this isn’t the first time it’s happened. I remember being with him in Catalunya one year, maybe in 2019, when the same thing happened.”

Koen Bouwman and Bart Lemmen are on standby, should the Giro line-up need modifying, with Zeeman ruling out the possibility of Ben Tulett stepping in due to the British rider’s full Classics campaign.

“It’ll be hard to have another rider like Wilco, because he’s one of the best GC riders in the world and we’d miss him a lot. He’s still the first option but if he can’t make it then we’ll look at options,” Zeeman added.

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