Hessmann and Jumbo-Visma teammates in solidarity with Vingegaard during high-altitude training: "Most enjoyable camp of the year!"

If anyone wanted to exchange a few words in Dutch with the riders at the World Cycling Championships, they would primarily engage with Dutch and Belgian participants. However, that didn't account for Michel Hessmann from Germany, a member of Jumbo-Visma, who once again impressed us on IDLProCycling.com with his precise and accent-free responses in the rather challenging Dutch language. Let's delve into this enjoyable conversation!

At the age of 22, Hessmann has made a significant impression in his second year as a professional cyclist with the Dutch team. He showcased his abilities in the Giro d'Italia, playing a pivotal role for Jumbo-Visma after a spring season dominated by prominent races. Following the Tour of the Czech Republic, where he fortunately managed to avoid falling ill like some of his teammates, and his participation in the World Cup, he is now gearing up for an autumn filled with predominantly one-day races.

"I hope I've gained strength from that Giro. Right after the Giro, I felt that I had improved, but after my vacation, I couldn't be very sure," the German expressed with a broad smile. "In the long term, it surely contributed positively. It's valuable to understand how your form progresses and when you eventually regain your peak condition. Over the past few weeks of training, things have been going quite well, so we'll see how it goes."

"After the Giro, I was initially eager to participate in the Vuelta, but my perspective has changed," the rider from Münster openly admitted. "Given the preparation I had and the lessons I've learned from the Giro, taking on the Vuelta would mean an extremely long season. I'm currently gearing up for the BEMER Cyclassics Hamburg, and my primary focus typically shifts to the Canadian one-day races. I'm genuinely excited about that. Regrettably, we're not participating in the Deutschland Tour, which means the schedule mainly revolves around one-day races. I haven't finalized the exact races yet, though, because as the year winds down, it's also a matter of waiting to see who's still in good shape."

Hessmann (fourth in line) won the Giro d'Italia with Primoz Roglic as leader

Hessmann and teammates all watched Vingegaard clinched his Tour de France victory in Tignes

While Hessmann, Primoz Roglic and co completed their task in the Giro, they saw teammate Jonas Vingegaard and his teammates take on the Tour de France. 'We were all in Tignes, at altitude. Then you sit there in the afternoon at lunch and afterwards on the couch with all those guys watching the Tour de France. That's really good for the group feeling, especially at a Tour like this. It is so exciting," Hessmann reflects;

Without asking directly, we see that excitement just like that on the face of the spontaneous German, who lives all the way back. 'Then you have one of those days when you thought: ooh, ah, will it work? It's incredible, those emotions there. For the team and for the group it is then the most fun camp of the whole year, just by watching the Tour together. Otherwise you would go to your room and call home, but now you have a cozy drink another coffee and you all sympathize," Hessmann looks back on that period with pleasure.