Cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar could not be beaten in 2024, not even by two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. For the new season, his team Visma – Lease a Bike has to take new paths.
Top cycling team Visma – Lease a Bike around Jonas Vingegaard is forced to rethink its strategy for the Tour de France in view of Tadej Pogacar’s performance.
Grischa Niermann, sporting director of the racing team, explained in an interview with “Eurosport”: “A development has clearly arrived: the top drivers can attack from much further away and have the self-confidence that they can maintain a gap at this distance. That has happened changed compared to recent years.”
In 2024 they went into the tour “with a tactic that we used to beat Pogacar in the last two years – but he made such a leap in performance that it no longer worked,” Niermann had to say. The consequence: “So we will have to think of new strategies.”
Niermann: One driver “exceeded expectations”
His conclusion for the past year is mixed. “It wasn’t all bad, although it was of course a lot of bad luck that our two best drivers were out for so long,” said the sporting director, referring to the failures of Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert.
“In the end, we were the second best team behind UAE Team Emirates and had great successes with Matteo Jorgenson and a few others, especially at the beginning of the season,” emphasized the German: “Matteo is a good example of a bright spot this season. We had him We also brought him into the team because we trusted him to do exactly that and he certainly exceeded our expectations.”
Looking ahead to 2025, the team wants to focus primarily on itself. With Jonas Vingegaard, too, there are “still a few points we can address,” said the 49-year-old: “His performance figures were the best of his career, despite the difficult preparation. That shows us that he can continue to improve. “
But one must “acknowledge that Pogacar had an outstanding year and gave us some homework to close the gap.”