Visma | Lease a Bike dares to be critical after Tirreno and already puts some pressure on Van Aert

Visma | Lease a Bike may have won a stage in the Tirreno-Adriatico, but the debriefing on the bus after seven challenging stages was not all positive. Sports director Marc Reef revealed to IDLProCycling.com that they had hoped for more in the GC, especially since sprinter Olav Kooij lacked a lead-out due to those GC ambitions—things to look at closely in the run-up to the Giro d'Italia in May.

Sports director Maarten Wyntans had already discussed Kooij's lack of support in the three Tirreno sprints. He said, "We have to make choices and are here for a GC with Simon and Cian," referring to Simon Yates and Cian Uijtdebroeks. Yates, however, came in (too) slowly, and on the second-to-last day, Uijtdebroeks had to deal with back pain that had been troubling him since last winter. The Belgian even abandoned the race on the final day.

And so Yates ended up in San Benedetto del Tronto on Sunday as fourteenth in the GC, not what Visma | Lease a Bike had hoped for beforehand. "We won a stage (on day four with Olav Kooij, ed.) and are very happy and proud. We were close in the other two sprint stages, but in the GC, we had hoped for more than where we are now," Reef stated.

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Olav Kooij gave Visma | Lease a Bike a stage win on day 4

Visma | Lease a Bike realistic with regard to Catalonia

The Dutch rider aptly explained this mixed feeling and immediately added some nuance: "You always start with greater ambitions than this, and you hope for more, but realistically speaking, this was possible at the time. In retrospect, we have to be satisfied with this, but beforehand, you hope for more because Simon hoped for more in the Tirreno despite being ill. Nevertheless, we are going to Catalonia with more confidence and the races that follow."

In Catalonia, the Killer Bees will feature Jonas Vingegaard after the Dane withdrew from Paris-Nice. So Yates will normally ride for the team for the first time, as will Sepp Kuss, who is returning to racing after a training period. Wilco Kelderman will also be there, which means Visma | Lease a Bike fully aims for the GC. Last year's winner was Tadej Pogacar in Catalonia, but this time, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) will be important rivals.

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Vingegaard abandoned the race Paris-Nice after a crash, Matteo Jorgenson (left) won the GC

Kooij becomes a topic of conversation at Visma | Lease a Bike

Kooij will focus on Milan-Sanremo, Classic Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem after Tirreno-Adriatico. However, Visma | Lease a Bike will analyze his impressive sprint victory on day four—after a day full of wind and rain—Reef emphasized this. "How do we get Olav sprinting in the final in the best possible way? We have to look into that," he said, setting the tone for an important topic of conversation.

Visma | Lease a Bike did not participate in the two pure sprint stages in the Tirreno. Kooij finished fourth on day 2 and added a third place on the final day. We will need more in the Giro d'Italia, and Reef realizes the pressure will be placed on Wout van Aert. "With Wout there, it will be a bit easier, as he has already shown in the past in Great Britain and Almeria. Last year, that was also the plan for the Giro, but in the end, he did not compete. Now, Wout's presence will give the team a boost again."

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

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