"As a domestique you can always be important to a leader, but rarely as pronounced as in a team time trial" - Victor Campenaerts out to prove his worth in Visma

The team time trial has become something of a dying art in professional cycling over recent years. This afternoon at Paris-Nice though, the peloton does battle in a TTT and for Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Victor Campenaerts, there is a real opportunity to prove himself as a key domestique in his new team.

With Jonas Vingegaard, Edoardo Affini, Matteo Jorgenson, Per Strand Hagenes, Bart Lemmen and Axel Zingle in the team in addition to Campenaerts, Team Visma | Lease start the day as one of the favourites to take the win. Campenaerts in particular has an important role, looking after team leader Vingegaard. "I get the most blessed place. Or rather the most feared..., haha. I am small and aerodynamic on the bike myself, but nobody is as aerodynamic as Jonas," the Belgian explains to Het Nieuwsblad. "So behind him you do catch some wind. But someone has to do it, of course, and for me the disadvantage seems to be limited after all."

As mentioned though, having re-joined Visma from Lotto over the recent off-season, this TTT gives Campenaerts an early season chance to really prove his worth. "As a domestique you can always be important to a leader, but rarely as pronounced as in a team time trial. Uphill, the leader must be good enough. In a team time trial, one rider can never limit the damage alone if the rest is not up to par," he concludes. "I am definitely more nervous for a team time trial than for an individual time trial. I have also never ridden a team time trial with an ex-Tour winner in the team, in a stage race that we clearly want to win. But my form is good and during altitude training I have also often trained on the time trial bike."