Van der Poels domestiques of Visma | LAB in top form to World Championship: "One of the greatest talents I've ever worked with"

On Sunday, the two Dutchmen will be part of a nine-man selection revolving around leader Mathieu van der Poel. The latter showed in the Tour of Luxembourg that he is ready to defend the title. In Zürich, Kelderman and Lemmen will initially have to serve as domestiques in that respect. "I have a lot of confidence in this team, a mix of experienced and younger riders, adapted to the difficulty of the course. I expect a nice battle where anything can happen during this course. And we hope for another great result with Mathieu; we will fight for that as a team," said national coach Koos Moerenhout.

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On a challenging course, Van der Poel can use all the help of his eight teammates. Kelderman can play an essential role, as proven by his form in the Tour of Poland and Luxembourg. "He has been perfect for a long time now, with a strong Tour de France, then some gas back, and then he needed the Clasica San Sebastián to be good again in Poland. We expect him to maintain that fine form these weeks," Van Dongen said.

The real question is: How do they manage to have Kelderman always be good? He also rode in the top ten in Paris-Nice and the Tour of Switzerland. Van Dongen is ecstatic about the now 33-year-old climber. "Wilco is one of the most extraordinary talents I have ever worked with. He just has a very high base-level standard. He's always very good, although we only let him race when Wilco is ready."

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For Lemmen, the World Championship selection is new, and it is a year in which the 28-year-old all-rounder is surprised day after day. Fifth in the Tour Down Under, 10th in the UAE Tour, second in the Tour of Norway, a debut in the Tour de France, and recently good in the Canadian one-day races. "Riding the Tour de France has been very beneficial for him. This year has been an excellent investment towards next season, where he can take another step with a good winter," Van Dongen again sounds positive.

"For example, we would like to see him work in the Walloon classics, which didn't work out this year due to a collarbone fracture. He would do well there, just like in one-week stage races. Winning will happen next season," continues Van Dongen, who said goodbye to Kelderman and Lemmen after the Tour of Luxembourg. It is up to the KNWU to get the two from Visma | Lease a Bike at the start in the best possible way. "We try to create the best possible route to the World Championships for the riders, but once they get there, we have little to no influence. Then they are with the union, but we certainly take the World Championship into account in our planning. I expect Kelderman and Lemmen to be ready for the World Championship."

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])