Groenewegen’s crucial adjustment ahead of the Tour and thoughts on Yates' potential transfer to Visma | LAB

He was beaming on the podium, Thursday evening, in a sun-drenched Florence. The Italians showcased their team presentation at a fantastic viewpoint over the city, making Dylan Groenewegen's red-white-blue jersey shine even brighter. His second national title, secured last week at the Dutch National Championships, couldn't have come at a better time. IDLProCycling.com spoke with the Team Jayco-AlUla sprint star on Friday. He seems to be finding the best version of himself.

After his National Championships victory, Groenewegen was already overjoyed. "It hasn't been an easy year so far, especially the beginning, due to illness and returning to racing too soon afterward. I was lagging behind," he analyzed his year to date. In recent seasons, we've occasionally seen glimpses of Groenewegen's top sprinter form, such as a stage win in the 2022 Tour de France. Now 31, the Dutchman always wants more, even though he's won seventeen times since moving from Visma | Lease a Bike to Jayco-AlUla in 2022. In the Tour, he wants to truly be the best again.

Read our interview with Groenewegen below the photo!

How did that team presentation feel, in the red-white-and-blue?

"That was special, yes. It's always nice that as a national champion you get all kinds of special things. I just got a new helmet pressed into my hands and if all goes well there will also be a new bike."

What else did you do in the week between the National Championships and the Tour?

"A last week like that is always a bit like keeping busy. Cycling, keeping the legs under tension, and it is also nice that the first stage is not a sprint. Then we can take it easy. Because of the national title we had a lot of media this week, so we stayed busy."

How were the reactions to that Dutch national title?

"Super nice, actually. It did trigger something, not only in myself. That was nice to see. There were a lot of people who sympathized and really liked it. That was super cool."

You said to my colleague Tom after the nationals that you notice that you don't fall idle anymore. Can you explain what top form means to you? The numbers have been fine more often in recent years, but how do you feel you're really there?

"Yes, those figures were indeed often good. Then it's mainly about how you feel. It helps if you have self-confidence, that is an important part. And you don't get that by doing board sprints, but by winning races. The sprint was good, the form is good, I did what I had to do in training.... If it comes out in the race, that's extra nice."

Have those sprint numbers gotten any better for you in recent years, or do you reach your ceiling at some point and then it's a matter of maintaining them?

"The last eight weeks they have even improved. You have to look at it this way, that as a sprinter you can't just change everything if your schedule is not quite right. That's why we took the time to change it up a bit a few weeks ago, because I felt things had to be even better heading towards the Tour. We adjusted some things and it seems we are pushing the right buttons now."

You also said after the nationals that you are now climbing a little less well but sprinting a little better again. It was the opposite in recent years. Perhaps you went a bit too far in that direction back then?

"Not necessarily, we thought the training was good for me at that time. I also won a stage in 2022 with more climbing training, so then you kind of do the same thing in 2023. Then it didn't work out well. So it wasn't necessarily not good, as evidenced by that stage win. But when it didn't work out in the Tour last year, we looked at what could be better. I wanted that sprint to be sharper and we did that this season. Good climbing and good sprinting is always difficult, one always comes at the expense of the other. But the climbing is still good enough."

You're not worried about time limits with that monstrous UAE-Team Emirates climbing train?

"No, definitely not. I'm not climbing much worse than last year. The sprint has just been given more priority this year and that has worked out well."

No Olav Kooij, Tim Merlier or Jonathan Milan this Tour. With that, you are missing some world class riders. Is that a good thing to you or do you care little about who is competing?

"Olav did compete at the nationals and then I beat him, so in principle it doesn't matter very much. Sometimes it is easier when there are more good sprinters competing, but I think there are still a lot of big names at the start. That's going to make for some nice duels."

Is the green in a Tour like this still a goal, or just not realistic?

"Not really, no. If I wanted to win green, I'd have to go and win five or six stages to play into that. You also have to take points in the tougher stages and that's just hard for me. That takes so much energy, at the expense of what I'm really here for: winning stages. Green is not important to me."

Last question: Simon Yates is suddenly being linked to your old team Visma | Lease a Bike. Has he asked you for any advice and what would you think of a transfer like that?

"Haha, no he certainly didn't ask for advice. I don't think anything is really certain yet either. But if he would leave, I would think that is too bad. For a classification rider, he is always very relaxed, he doesn't worry so much. He does his thing and also likes it when we go for the sprint. I don't race with him much, but I get along well with him. We're also very relaxed in the Tour de France again and we help each other on the days when it's for him or for me, by having our guys help each other out a little bit."