Zingle takes a completely different approach at Visma | Lease a Bike: "Precisely why it's good to have such a long winter"

Axel Zingle made his Visma | Lease a Bike debut last weekend. The 26-year-old Frenchman raced the Faun Drome Classic for his new Dutch team, where he was immediately given the chance to go for a result. Before the race, the Mulhouse native spoke with DirectVelo about his move from Cofidis to Visma | Lease a Bike. "A lot of things are new for me."

Zingle spent most of February in Tenerife, attending altitude camp alongside Matteo Jorgenson, Victor Campenaerts, and Simon Yates. In the Faun Drome Classic, he finally got to race in Visma's yellow-and-black kit, where Ben Tulett finished third. "It was a tough finale, and my sprint actually went better than expected. Initially, we planned to sprint for third with Axel, but I felt good and managed to hold on until the finish," said Tulett after the race.

For Zingle, racing for his new team was a special moment. "It’s a source of pride," he said before his debut. "Of course, I want to perform well, but that also brings some extra pressure. I’m just coming off an altitude camp, so it’s still uncertain how I’ll feel in these first races." Like Christophe Laporte, Zingle followed the path from Cofidis to Visma | Lease a Bike, hoping to make a similar impact.

"It was very different from other years," he said of his preparation. "It’s hard to predict how my body will respond in these first races. I’ll have to test myself right away to learn more. I had much more time for preparation than in previous seasons since my racing calendar only starts in March. During the winter, I was able to do a lot more endurance training at lower intensity before building my foundation for the season in Tenerife."

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Zingle has an exciting race schedule ahead at Visma | Lease a Bike

Zingle is working closely with Jasper Vaeck at Visma | Lease a Bike, who, like him, moved from a French team this winter (Arkéa - B&B Hotels). "Jasper is very involved, and I really enjoy working with him. We are still getting to know each other and finding our rhythm. In February, I noticed that I didn’t necessarily respond the same way to training as the others because so many things were new to me. That’s exactly why having such a long winter was helpful—it gave me time to adapt to the equipment and training methods."

Zingle has an exciting race program ahead with Visma | Lease a Bike, including Paris-Nice, Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of the Basque Country, and the Ardennes Classics triple. However, unlike at Cofidis, he is no longer the sole focus of the team. "It’s different, but the team already has full confidence in me. Of course, there are high expectations when you ride for this team, but that only pushes you to bring out your best."

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