Visma | Lease a Bike proud of Lemmen after solo falls short: "That victory will definitely come in the future"

On Monday, Bart Lemmen came very close to his first pro victory at the Coppa Bernocchi. However, it wasn't to be for the Visma | Lease a Bike rider, who is having an excellent first season with the top team. "I really believed I could make it," Lemmen shared on the team’s website.

Although Lemmen was perhaps the strongest rider on the Visma | Lease a Bike squad present on paper, he didn't wait until the final. He opted for the early break, where he encountered eventual winner Stan Van Tricht. In the closing stages, Lemmen proved to be the strongest of the lead group, defending a lead of around half a minute. Among the chasers were strong riders like Pavel Sivakov and Roger Adrià, along with some of the early breakaway riders whom Lemmen had dropped. It turned into a nerve-wracking finale, but things didn't end in favor of the former soldier. Lemmen was caught and, understandably, couldn't do much in the final sprint.

The result was a fifth place. "I rode really hard. Maybe I was left alone a bit too early, because thirty kilometres is still quite a distance," said Lemmen, who quickly came to terms with missing out on the win. "Unfortunately, the finish line was a kilometer too far for me today. They worked together well behind me. It's really unfortunate to get caught like that at the end, but that's cycling too."

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Team Manager Marc Reef also weighs in. While disappointed that Lemmen didn't quite make it, he's mainly proud of his rider. "Bart really did everything right. We knew in advance that the breakaway could make it to the finish today. Bart turned out to be the strongest in the breakaway and then you have to make the choice to go solo at one point. It's a shame that he just didn't make it. That would have been the icing on the cake for a very good first year with Team Visma | Lease a Bike. It didn't lead to a victory today, but that win will definitely come in the future.”