Visma is future-proofing itself: Markus leads the charge as Vos era winds down

Very quietly, and for now still in the shadow of major teams like SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek, Visma | Lease a Bike is building a general classification team for the women's division. Since its founding in 2021, the Dutch squad has excelled primarily in one-day races and stage wins, but starting in 2024, everything is gradually changing. Riejanne Markus is heading to the Tour de France Femmes with GC ambitions, and from next year onwards, the goal is even to chase that big Tour victory with newcomer Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. IDLProCycling.com spoke with team leader Markus, sports director Jan Boven and team manager Rutger Tijssen about the shift from a team of attackers and time trialists to GC riders.

If you look at the honor roll of Visma | Lease a Bike, you'll see more than ten victories in 2021. Eleven of the twelve wins that year came from stage wins and one-day races, with only Anna Henderson winning a general classification in the Tour de Belle Isle en Terre. In 2022, there wasn't a single GC win in a stage race, and in 2023, only Karlijn Swinkels took a GC victory at the AG Tour de la Semois. But things are very different in 2024, with Marianne Vos winning in Catalonia, Lieke Nooijen taking the Princess Anna Vasa Tour in Poland, and Markus establishing herself as a GC rider. She finished second in the Vuelta, Catalonia and the Polish race won by Nooijen, making a serious step up from last year, when her fourth place in the Vuelta was already impressive.

"It started about two years ago, in the very first Tour de France," Markus explains her transformation. "We rode the first six stages to win stages, but when we entered the Vosges and had already secured green and stage wins with Marianne, they told me I could hang on as long as possible. I ended up finishing eleventh in the overall standings, even though I hadn't focused on it at all in the early stages. What could have been if I hadn't lost time in those first days? That almost resulted in a podium in last year's Vuelta and this year, it did result in a podium finish."

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Markus steps up through high-altitude training

When asked what Markus had to do to achieve these results, the answer is logical: high-altitude training! "I went to altitude three times this year, just like last year. That's the most important thing, with the mountains coming in the final weekend. I hadn't done that before, training extensively in the mountains and tackling long climbs. The repetition of that is key, not necessarily the numbers. I've made big strides, especially in the time trial, which is still a strength of mine. The time trial on day two is a bit too short to gain much on the pure climbers, but I'm looking forward to it and hope to gain some time. It won't be a minute, but I can usually push more power there."

Sports director Boven emphasizes that a lot had already gone right in Markus's development as a GC rider last year. "We looked at what went well and what could be improved. We specifically prepared for this year's Vuelta, with good results, while the preparation for last year's Tour was just not good. We tried to apply all that to the preparation for this Tour. We didn't race much, though it was uncertain for a long time whether Riejanne could go to the Olympics as Ellen van Dijk's replacement. First no, then maybe, and eventually no. That meant we couldn't plan everything until just before the Tour, so we went to Poland last minute to get some race rhythm. Missing the Olympics wasn't unfavorable for the Tour, but you never want an athlete to miss such an event."

When it comes to this Tour, a rested and perfectly prepared Markus aims for a top ten finish. "I haven't managed that in recent years because I'd already raced so much by the time the Tour came around that I was a bit spent. We tried to do things differently this time. I hope I'm fresh enough to go for it and be as strong as I was in the Vuelta. It will be harder, but the course suits me well, and I just hope for that top ten placement." Team manager Tijssen finds that a bit too modest. "We've been adding a bit to her capabilities over the past few years, and this plan has emerged from that. Everyone has contributed to it. A top ten ambition is false modesty. We know how good she is and how much effort she's put in. Things can happen, but in principle, she's selling herself short with a top ten finish. I understand why she says it because you don't want to boast too much. I'm not going to put a number on it, but a solid top ten? Yes, definitely."

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Ferrand-Prévot (and Van Empel?) to boost GC ambitions Visma | Lease a Bike

Visma | Lease a Bike wants to keep growing in the coming years. Winning the Tour is not an option yet, but with the arrival of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, that could be possible from 2025. A deliberate acquisition, especially now that it's an open secret that Markus will be racing for Lidl-Trek starting next season. "With Riejanne and Fem van Empel's potential and with the size of races like the Tour de France... You want to participate in those, score in those. Also, Marianne, our angel in almost every way, will eventually step away. What will you do then? As a team, we're growing towards the GC, with our men's team as a good example," says Boven.

The arrival of Ferrand-Prévot aligns with the goal Visma | Lease a Bike has set. "You're fine-tuning, for instance, with someone like Fem, who hasn't yet managed to replicate her cyclo-cross success on the road. She faced difficulties with illness and crashes in cyclo-cross, but her immense talent allowed her to mask that. On the road, the competition is tougher, so it seems that, as a young rider, she is still more suited to one-day races. But once Fem has a clear structure, is happy and sees that it's possible, we're good to go."

Until then, Ferrand-Prévot must become the team's main GC leader, something made possible when her team, INEOS Grenadiers, didn't follow through with their women's team. Tijssen explains: "We had her on our radar for a while. When I heard from Merijn Zeeman that Pauline wanted to return to the road, we started talking internally. What do we want? We explored that. Pauline wanted to be part of a good and clear plan and not build everything from scratch like at INEOS. She wants a strong performance environment where she can focus on her goals right away and doesn't have to serve as a mentor. However, this Tour is not a test phase for when Pauline arrives. No, we have a good plan with Riejanne, and we're going to execute it."