Wilco Kelderman made the first steps in his career in Rabobank (now Visma | Lease a Bike) fifteen years ago, and although his greatest achievments came while wearing a different team colours, eventually the fate lead him back to the Dutch formation. It would be a perfect fairy tale if the circle would close with a Grand Tour stage win - something Kelderman's palmares still lack.
"That doesn't mean I lose sleep over it. I have a wife, two children and the best job there is," Kelderman tells De Volkskrant. "That makes me a happy person. Winning a competition won't change that at all. I really do have that ambition. There are still chances in the final week of this Giro. But I don't dream of it."
Visma DS Mathieu Heijboer sees that fun is central to Kelderman. "I have a soft spot for him, because he is a sweet boy. Maybe a little too sweet. His ego is completely absent. He does not have the will to win that you expect from a top athlete. With him, that is not a driving force."
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Previously Keldermann has been tested as a GC leader at Team Sunweb. His results; 4th at the Vuelta a Espana 2017 and 3rd at the Giro d'Italia 2020 confirm that this career path was also a viable option for the Dutchman. But eventually, he found his role as a domestique for even greater GC contenders such as the two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard.
"He is the perfect domestique, previously for Jonas Vingegaard, now for Wout van Aert and Simon Yates," says Heijboer. And it's not only about his performances on the bike. The 34-year-old almost automatically took on a mentor role for young riders in Visma. "He does that fantastically, but of course we all want him to be in the spotlight for once."
Keldermann has four professional victories to his name, however not a single one at the WorldTour level. Heijboer is convinced that a big triumph has to come, sooner or later. "Statistically speaking, it has to happen at some point, you would think. That he is in second place and that the number one in the race takes the wrong turn," he laughs.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
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