Visma | Lease a Bike faces tough questions after E3 Saxo Classic disappointment: "Is it still realistic? I wouldn’t say so yet"

Visma | Lease a Bike lined up at the start of the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday with high hopes, but after 200 kilometers of racing, they had to settle for ninth place and three riders in the top twenty. Matteo Jorgenson, Wout van Aert, and Tiesj Benoot weren’t strong enough to follow the best in the race—undeniably a bitter pill to swallow. Sporting director Grischa Niermann spoke on behalf of the team afterwards.

All eyes, of course, were on Van Aert, who descended from Teide to Harelbeke for his big return. The Belgian gave a brief interview to rights holder VTM before riding straight to the team bus—which was understandable given the cold, wet weather in Flanders. “I missed the move on the Taaienberg. I was a little too far back—just behind the split when we hit the climb, around 20th position or so. From then on, it was chasing from behind, yeah…” said the team leader.

Van Aert couldn’t quite put his feelings into words post-race. “It’s hard to say. I think I had a decent finale, but of course I’d hoped to be more in the mix earlier on. I came here for a result, and that didn’t happen,” said the 15th-place finisher of the E3 Saxo Classic. Jorgenson ended up being the team’s top finisher, in ninth place.

“We weren’t ideally positioned on the Taaienberg, so we couldn’t react to the moves at the front. I ended up in a chasing group, but the efforts I had made earlier had already drained me,” the American explained after the race.

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Grischa Niermann: "We need to take action'

Grischa, where did it go wrong? Or did it not go wrong?
"It definitely went wrong. We weren’t good enough, that’s clear. The best rider won—very convincingly—and we just couldn’t keep up. Period."

At the Taaienberg, a crucial moment in the race, you weren't in position.
"We were a bit too far back there. But if we had been strong enough, that wouldn’t have been the biggest issue. I don’t know if we could have gone with them, but we weren’t in a terrible spot either. The three strongest riders broke away, and we just couldn’t follow. It wasn’t just a five-meter gap. Again, the bottom line is: we weren’t good enough."

After the opening weekend, a lot was said about positioning. Is that still the case?
"Hard to say. We weren’t all the way up front, but not in a terrible spot either. And those three just steadily pulled away, so we also can’t say we were close enough to close the gap."

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Visma | Lease a Bike won’t let heads drop ahead of upcoming classics

After the Taaienberg, you still had four riders in the group. Was there talk of taking the lead at that point?
"Even then, it was more a case of not being able to rather than not wanting to. But even if we had tried—Mathieu’s group was already a minute up the road by then. And with him, Pedersen and Ganna up front, the birds had already flown."

How do you assess Wout’s race?
"It wasn’t what we had hoped for, but this is what we have to work with. We move on to the next race with our heads held high. And there, we’ll give it our all. We still believe in it."

You were quite positive about Wout’s altitude training. How do you view that now after his first race back?
"It’s clear Wout wasn’t at his best and that there’s still work to do. We had hoped for more. Normally he comes back really strong from training camp. It is what it is. We’re not going to let this drag us down heading into the next races, because we still believe it’ll improve. But here, we just couldn’t race the way we wanted to."

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Is it realistic to expect things to improve within a week?
"I hope so. But I can’t say for sure right now how good we’ll be. There are still a few races coming up. The legs weren’t good enough, again. Wout didn’t underperform—it was the team as a whole that wasn’t as strong as we wanted to be. All we can do is congratulate the winner on an impressive ride. Now we need to sit down together and hope things improve in the upcoming races."

How do you assess Matteo Jorgenson’s race?
"I think he was our strongest rider today. He found himself in a tough situation, because the guys around him already had teammates up the road."

Do you have any explanation?
"I don't have an explanation right now, no. The three best rode away and we weren’t part of that group, unfortunately. This is not how we want to show up, but I don't think we’ve seen the best version of ourselves yet. Of course that gap is big, but we remain determined."

Read also

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