Ben Tulett lives his dream at Visma | Lease a Bike: "I received my jersey from my role model Wout Van Aert"

Tulett may be small in stature, but he's mighty in accomplishments. In 2020, he turned pro with Alpecin-Fenix, still just an 18-year-old rookie. In his first year, he finished fifth in the Tour of Turkey and in the following year, he boldly competed at the front in races like the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne. After a ninth-place finish in the Tour of Poland, INEOS saw enough potential and signed the British rider. It seemed like a match made in heaven. Tulett commented at the time, "INEOS is a team I've always looked up to. I always wanted to ride for this team as a young boy, and I've trained hard for it."

The beginning of his tenure with INEOS was promising. Tulett won a stage in the Coppi e Bartali and finished second in the overall classification. He made his debut in the Giro d'Italia, where he finished fifth in both time trials and gained strength towards the third week. Towards the end of the season, he finished fifth in Poland. In 2023, a further step forward was expected, but it didn't quite materialize. Although he did win the Tour of Norway, he didn't participate in any more Grand Tours with INEOS. Perhaps it was because it was already clear that he would leave the team after 2023.

Merijn Zeeman, the sporting director at Visma | Lease a Bike, made swift decisions. "I had been in contact with Merijn for a while, which made me feel confident quickly. It was a no-brainer for me, an environment where I felt comfortable right away. That's important to me, so I see this as the best place to develop myself as an athlete and a cyclist, for my short-term and long-term goals. I immediately felt that Merijn is a fantastic leader, not only in cycling but also in sports in general. He brings people together and gets the best out of them. We talked a lot about my personal development and how we will get the most out of me. That got me excited. I believe in Merijn and this team."

Listening to Tulett speak, one can almost picture a young boy who suddenly gets to play among his big idols. He confesses with a broad smile that his new teammate Wout van Aert has been a role model for him for years. "I received a special welcome, where I was handed a jersey by my role model Wout. Very special, I will never forget that for the rest of my life. Wout started out in cyclo-cross, so I grew up with him. It was fun to spend time with him and I can learn a lot from him in the future," says Tulett, who was also a cyclo-cross rider himself.

Living the dream, it exists. "It's great to be here, and I really enjoyed the first training camp in December. Maybe it was the most enjoyable training camp of my career. Very focused on performance, but not too serious, as you might expect. It was always enjoyable, even at the dinner table. I didn't go through any initiation or anything like that; that's not how the team operates. This is truly one team, and we work together towards our goals. No one is arrogant. It's inspiring to be in an environment where everyone wants to be the best version of themselves, on and off the bike. This takes the team to the next level, and I want to be a part of it."

The trust that Visma | Lease a Bike has in him is evident from the races that Tulett will be taking on in 2024. He starts with O Gran Camiño, then rides Strade Bianche, the Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour of the Basque Country, and we will see him in the Ardennes Classics. In the summer, the Tour de Suisse is on his schedule, and he is on the longlist for the Vuelta a España. Many races where he will have the opportunity to ride for the team's leaders. In his first year, Tulett will still be in the service of others. "I can learn so much from these guys, but I also want to be there for them. They are an inspiration to me, Jonas is the best Grand Tour rider in the world. I want to see how he leads a team."

"The long-term goal is to become a GC rider," says Tulett. Not surprising, as with his climbing abilities and excellent time trial skills, he has the potential for future success. "I'm looking forward to supporting big names like Jonas, Sepp and Wout in the major races next year. I want to support them as effectively as possible and learn from them. How do they do things? I can use that in the future. I want to race with intensity, although I will still ride in support in the beginning. I look forward to that, but I will also have my own opportunities. That's a nice combination. I also look forward to riding the new Cervélo time trial bike. I've discovered over the last two years that I can time trial well, so I want to further develop that."

Zeeman was the man who lured Tulett to Visma | Lease a Bike. In a conversation with this website, he explains why: "He is still very young, but this is already his third team, which we sometimes forget. He is very good at steep climbs, like the prologue he won in Norway and Hungary. Explosive finishes, in his first year as a pro, he finished eleventh in the Fleche Wallonne off the top of my head. I think he can become very good in that area, although he still needs to get stronger in finals, in races over 200 kilometers, for example. Those climbs of five to ten minutes, he's a specialist in those."

"And in the future, a GC rider, because he also has a very good time trial," Zeeman confirms. "We are definitely aiming for that. I look forward to doing the Flèche Wallonne with him in 2024, and he is in the pre-selection for the Vuelta. We will build him up slowly. From a VO2 perspective, we see him as a top rider, but that applies to all our riders now. It's a waiting game with young riders, but I signed him with the idea that we can develop him so well that he will be one of the leaders of this team in about three years."