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“A healthy sport needs a lot of fluctuations at the top” - Thijs Zonneveld fears the dominance of superteams

Cycling
by Joseph Lycett
Wednesday, 13 March 2024 at 01:00
matteojorgenson
After Visma | Lease a Bike took the victory at both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico last week, it once again raised the question about whether the dominance of a few superteams is good for the sport. It’s not just stage racing either, as in the Classics the Dutch outfit won both races at Opening Weekend and have by far the strongest team in every race that they line up at.
In an interview on the In Het Wiel podcast, BEAT Cycling rider and regular columnist for the Dutch publication AD Thijs Zonneveld commented on the “I think a healthy sport needs a lot of fluctuations at the top. That there are many teams that have the financial resources and the vision to compete at the top. You've seen that disappear in recent years and I don't see it changing any time soon”.

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Thijs Zonneveld: "What would have happened in Strade Bianche if a Van der Poel or Evenepoel had been present? Then we would have had a real race"Thijs Zonneveld: "What would have happened in Strade Bianche if a Van der Poel or Evenepoel had been present? Then we would have had a real race"
In the Grand Tours this season, it is unlikely that we will see Visma | Lease a Bike repeat what they did last year by winning all three races, but it will be difficult to beat Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France. With rising talents such as Matteo Jorgenson and Cian Uijtdebroeks, as well as experienced figures like Sepp Kuss and Wilco Kelderman also on their roster, they will definitely have strength in depth at this year’s races.
On which teams could possible challenge the Dutch team in the big races this year, Zonneveld said “next to Visma | Lease a Bike you still have UAE Team Emirates with Pogačar, BORA-hansgrohe with Roglič and Soudal Quick-Step with Evenepoel. They still participate. But with the last two it is not as structural as with UAE and Visma. That’s where they really take ownership of the quality”.

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"It has never happened that a team wins Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico at the same time" - Team Visma | Lease a Bike continue to make cycling history"It has never happened that a team wins Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico at the same time" - Team Visma | Lease a Bike continue to make cycling history
“At this point in the season he has never won so much" - Jonas Vingegaard looking more formidable than ever after dominant early season form“At this point in the season he has never won so much" - Jonas Vingegaard looking more formidable than ever after dominant early season form
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"It has never happened that a team wins Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico at the same time" - Team Visma | Lease a Bike continue to make cycling history

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