Van Aert en Jorgenson show improvement, but Visma | Lease a Bike doesn’t celebrate: "We did not have a solid foundation"

Visma | Lease a Bike had been harsh on themselves after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but the Dutch team showed improvement on Sunday in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. During the race, Wout van Aert attacked, and in the final sprint, Olav Kooij finished second. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's also not good enough for a celebration.

For Van Aert and Jorgenson, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne was a race of two approaches. In the hilly middle section, the two went for it, and if they did not come out ahead, the train for Kooij would be set in motion. "We had Olav with us for this scenario, and I think we performed well in the final, thanks to him. Olav had to accept that Jasper was better, but second place was great. We can be satisfied with that," he said shortly after the race on Sporza.

On Eurosport, Van Aert spoke in French about his day: "It was difficult to make a difference today because many of the sprint teams wanted to race defensively. From that perspective, it was a good weekend without results but good training." It sounded the same on HLN: 'There was nothing more I could do regarding results."

"When I slipped away from Roger Adrià (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), I had to try and convince him to ride with me because I wouldn't have made it to the front on my own," the Belgian rider said, referring to his last-ditch attempt to catch up on the Kluisberg. So things went well on the climbs. "My legs felt the way I wanted them to, anyway. I'm more satisfied than yesterday. We were aiming for more, but we knew this scenario was possible. We gave it a try."

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Jorgenson speaks of 'good feeling'

Jorgenson was also not in a euphoric mood, but he was satisfied with the Omloop and Kuurne on Eurosport. "I am always happy when I survive the Opening Weekend with my body intact. I felt good and strong. We need to improve as a team in the coming weeks, but I am confident heading into Paris-Nice."

How can Visma | Lease a Bike improve? "I don't need to say that publicly, but some things became clear during yesterday's debriefing. We will talk about it again today. We haven't worked well together yet, but we also had a lot of bad luck, with Christophe (Laporte, ed.) falling ill and Dylan (van Baarle, ed.) breaking his collarbone. We did not have a solid foundation. Let's hope that this time without victories in the Opening Weekend is a sign of things to come."

Read also

📸 Van Aert and Visma | Lease a Bike reconned and raced the Omloop with time trial helmets and caught everyone's attention

Ayuso channels his frustrations into an impressive solo á la Pogacar in Faun Drome Classic

Philipsen opens his season with a win on his birthday in Kuurne, Visma | Lease a Bike's lead-out too early for Kooij

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