Teams
Looking for: Vingegaard to make a miraculous comeback
Tour riders
l Tiesj Benoot (Bel) 30
l Matteo Jorgenson (USA) 24
l Wilco Kelderman (Ned) 33
l Bart Lemmen (Ned) 28
l Christophe Laporte (Fra) 31
l Jan Tratnik (Slo) 34
l Wout van Aert (Bel) 29
l Jonas Vingegaard (Den) 27
Tour 2023 highlights
l Jonas Vingegaard wins overall
l Vingegaard wins ITT on stage 16
Having won all three Grand Tours in 2023, Visma-Lease a Bike are this year enduring something of an annus horribilis. First Wout van Aert crashed heavily at Dwars door Vlaanderan in March sustaining serious injuries, then Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard was the victim of a crash at Itzulia Basque Country. His list of injuries were equal to, if not worse than, Van Aert’s.
The Giro d’Italia – which they won with Primoz Roglič (now with Bora-Hansgrohe) last year – passed with the Dutch superteam managing just one stage win with sprinter Olav Kooij but no rider in the top 20 on GC. Then things got even worse. Another horror crash, this time at the Critérium du Dauphiné, saw half the peloton hit the deck and riders skidding down a wet mountain road at high speed on their backsides. Both Dylan van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk suffered fractures of the collar bone and hip respectively and Visma’s Tour team was diminished further still.
There is, however, hope for the once all-conquering Dutch team. Both Vingegaard and Van Aert have made the starting line-up in what is a very strong team. Keep an eye on Matteo Jorgenson, one of the riders of 2024 so far, winning Paris-Nice, Dwars Door Vl
