Milan Vader as team leader for Visma | Lease a Bike in Australia: "My 2024 goal? Improving my fatigue resistance"

The first WorldTour race of the year traditionally kicks off with the Tour Down Under, starting on January 16 in Tanunda. Representing Visma | Lease a Bike as the team leader in Australia is Milan Vader, who is obviously looking forward to it. i spoke to him extensively ahead of the season opener!

Next week, Visma | Lease a Bike will start the Tour Down Under with Vader, Mick van Dijke, Koen Bouwman, Johannes Staune-Mittet Loe van Belle, Robert Gesink who is already in Australia, and new recruit Bart Lemmen. Richard Plugge's team hopes to start the season on the same note as they ended the last one: a victory in a WorldTour race, which Vader already realized in Guangxi last October.

We take the 27-year-old rider back to that Chinese victory, which was quite special for him. "The fact that it was at WorldTour level, gives it an extra charge. I think there are about fifteen WorldTour races in a year, won by eight different riders. I am one of them, so that's really cool," says Vader.

Vader concluded his 'recovery process' after severe accident with a bang in China

Particularly, the background of the victory evoked a lot of emotions. Vader crashed hard in the Tour of the Basque Country in April 2022 and subsequently spent twelve days in a coma, followed by a long recovery process. "It was really beautiful to conclude the recovery process after the accident in that way, above all," he says about the victory in the Tour of Guangxi. "In that sense, it's the icing on the cake, but it also feels like a bit of pressure has been lifted off my shoulders. Pressure that I put on myself, to return to my former level and preferably even better. I'm super happy with that."

Of course, the whole journey wasn't easy. "I'm just really happy that I can sit on a bike again and do what I love. That's really the most important thing for me," the friendly rider realizes all too well. "Of course, I already enjoyed it a lot before and was aware of the privileged position I have, but now even a bit more. It's also in the very small things, I realize more that everything we do is only going to happen once and that you can really display a beautiful performance now," says Vader.

He doesn't see the added external pressure in races like the Tour Down Under as a burden. "For me, enjoying the ride and performing well go hand in hand. I actually like the pressure. Pushing myself to the limit on the bike each day and managing everything that comes with it is deeply satisfying," says the rider who lives in Spain.

He'll need that determination to succeed in Australia for Visma | Lease a Bike. "I'm heading there as the team leader. The race format isn't too different from what we had in China, featuring short stages with intense, explosive finishes. That suits my style, so I'm aiming to replicate that success."

Vader starts his first full year on the road with Visma | Lease a Bike

Has he felt even more improvement since his victory in Guangxi? "Around the time of China, I felt that I was truly back to my level, after the last bit had taken quite a while," he says. "But whether there's still a lot more room for improvement now? I have no idea. This coming year will be my first full year as a road cyclist, and between now and June, I'll have almost as many race days as I've had in the past two years combined. It will essentially be entirely new, so we'll also find out how I will react to that."

At the age of 27, Vader is set to discover what a full road season entails. "There are still some nice punchy races ahead, as well as tough stage races. The main goal is to improve my fatigue resistance, so I can pull off the same trick I did in China even after a very tough stage or week. That's the key, but it's also part of the plan to see how far I can go in the high mountains."

Vader shares when 2024 will be considered a success for him

Now that he's a full-time road cyclist, we won't be seeing him on the mountain bike much in the short term. This change came sooner than expected, as the crash in the Basque Country also disrupted his Olympic plans for Paris 2024. "My goal was to win a medal there, and I really believed in that plan, but the accident changed everything. It was tough to accept that. After Paris, I was planning to switch to road cycling anyway, but we've just moved that forward a bit."

So, next week he starts a WorldTour race as a team leader alongside someone like Gesink, after Steven Kruijswijk helped him last year in China. Quite impressive for someone about to start his first full road season. "Having those guys ride for me feels very strange, but fortunately, they also give me a great feeling. That's the big strength of our team: everyone is there for each other, and that makes it easier, as you trust each other and the agreements are clear."

Okay, it's January now: when can we consider Vader's 2024 season a success? "I could say now: if I've won in Australia, but it's mainly about being good and stable throughout the whole season. If I can demonstrate that and show something like I did in China again, with a good explosion, then we've taken a step forward," he says on the eve of the cycling year.