From Mathieu van der Poel's domestique to Wout van Aert's? Visma close to snatching another cyclocross specialist

Alpecin-Deceuninck is a team with plenty riders who combine cyclocross with the road, but perhaps this saturation makes a few of them vulnerable to offers from rival teams. This seems to be what's happening with Timo Kielich, who is reported to be close to signing with none other than Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

Het Laatste Nieuws reports that not only Visma is on the table to try and sign the young Belgian, but so is Soudal - Quick-Step who is actively looking for new leaders for it's classics block. This does not come as a surprise taking into consideration Kielich's background but now also his recent results on the road which continue to impress.

The 25-year old was one of the best under-23 riders of his generation a few years ago in the winter discipline and has achieved quite a lot including a national title, but has recently put more and more focus on the road with Alpecin-Deceuninck - this winter actually, he only did one race in cyclocross.

That is because last season he switched to the elite team, winning the Volta NXT Classic and making a successful Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia - in 2023 he had already impressed both as a climber and classics specialist, notably beating World Tour competition in a stage of the Tour de Wallonie. Currently, he is racing the Giro, but he has the potential from a stronger role besides a domestique and he may enjoy some more freedom at Visma, where he would also likely be a domestique for the likes of Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson in the big classics.