Visma | Lease a Bike World Champion Behrens views European Championship silver behind Artz as "disappointment, but also highlight"

With Niklas Behrens, Visma | Lease a Bike will have a world champion in their ranks next season. The powerhouse from Germany claimed the U23 world championship title in Zurich, following a second-place finish behind Dutchman Huub Artz at the European Championships earlier in the year. Behrens, who raced for the Lidl-Trek development team last season, reflected on his stellar year in an interview with radsport-news.com.

Behrens first made waves with a win at the prestigious Youngster Coast Challenge, the U23 event at the Bredene-Koksijde Classic. He later finished fourth in Gent-Wevelgem for U23 riders and earned notable results in the Peace Race and Giro Next Gen, showcasing his strengths as a classic rider and powerful sprinter.

With the Tour of Austria and the Tour de l’Avenir under his belt, Behrens hit his stride, becoming German U23 champion along the way. In September, he raced at the European Championships in Belgium, where he and Artz broke away together, with Artz narrowly beating him at the finish. Two weeks later, he got his revenge at the World Championships by dominating the grueling, rain-soaked U23 race.

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Behrens feels confident at Visma | Lease a Bike

“That second place at the European Championships was, in a way, both a highlight and a disappointment for me,” Behrens now reflects on that period. After Hasselt, the focus quickly shifted to Zurich. “Together with my coach, we analyzed all the races of the year and decided about halfway through the season that Zurich was a real possibility. From then on, we trained specifically for that,” Behrens revealed, ultimately succeeding in his goal.

Behrens has already been part of Visma | Lease a Bike’s spring course recon and is currently attending the team’s training camp in Spain, from where he has shared some stunning videos on Instagram. He will be the team’s only German rider next year, but he doesn’t feel pressured by that. “I feel a lot of trust from the team, and they have a lot of experience in developing young talents. I know I don’t need to hold back, and I’ll just let things come as they do,” said the young rider.

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