"I really felt like a cyclist" – Bart Lemmen reflects on breakthrough year with Team Visma | Lease a Bike
Cycling
Dutch rider Bart Lemmen, 29, has completed his first season at WorldTour level with Team Visma | Lease a Bike. His rise to the sport’s top tier was anything but conventional, and on the De Rode Lantaarn podcast, Lemmen opened up about his journey, his surprise signing, and his dreams for the future.
Lemmen’s route to Visma | Lease a Bike began with standout performances at O Gran Camiño, the Tour of Slovakia, and the Dutch National Championships, where he finished fourth. Despite his strong results, he found himself without a team after Human Powered Health disbanded, leaving his future uncertain. Then, an unexpected call changed everything.
“I was riding back from the Oktoberfest in Stuttgart when I got a message from my manager that Marijn wanted to call me,” Lemmen shared. Marijn Zeeman, the influential sporting director of Visma | Lease a Bike, quickly made his admiration clear. “He said during the conversation: ‘If you say yes now, it will be arranged this afternoon.’ I looked at Nienke (his wife) and she went through the roof. Because we had been looking for a team for months.”
While Q36.5 Pro Cycling had also made an offer that day, Lemmen’s decision became clear. Joining one of the world’s most prestigious teams not only fulfilled a long-held ambition but also provided a sense of validation. “I really felt like a cyclist,” Lemmen said. “Before, if someone asked me what I did, I would say that I was a cyclist. ‘At Jumbo then?’ they asked. Then you have to explain that you ride for a pro-continental team that in theory could ride the Tour de France, but in practice doesn’t. Now I could just say: ‘Yes, I’m at Visma.’”
Lemmen’s season was filled with both challenges and near successes. He stepped in to replace Sepp Kuss, who tested positive for COVID-19, at the Tour de France, gaining invaluable experience on cycling’s biggest stage and riding alongside two time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard. In the autumn, he came heartbreakingly close to his first professional victory at the Coppa Bernocchi, riding solo for much of the finale before being caught in the last kilometre. “I was surprised how long it went well. With twenty kilometres to go I still had twenty seconds,” Lemmen recounted. The near-miss only fuelled his hunger for a victory.
“I would like to win a race as a pro. That there is no longer a zero in ProCyclingStats,” Lemmen admitted. “Of course, how great is it to win a stage in a Grand Tour, or an Amstel Gold Race. But let me start with a Coppa Bernocchi. But if I had to choose: I would choose a stage in the Tour.”
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- Isn't the riders comming from indoor e-sport cycling crashing a lot?Jkolner12308-01-2025
- Right... Unless the two people above consider 2 Paris Roubaix and 3 Ronde meaningless... You don't win that many editions by being lucky.alsene08-01-2025
- Call it how you want, in order to win which matters to him, even if it’s for the team as lead-out, he has to and tries to be in top shape 10 out of 12 months, whether that’s a bunch of peaks, a couple of prolonged peaks or just that his general level is so good he can win anytime without peaking is a new discussion.Jumpyjohn08-01-2025
- I think he’s right and mental attitude is one of the biggest factors at elite level, especially over 3 weeks.Jumpyjohn08-01-2025
- Enforcing cease and desist isn't working. The site is still live (8 Jan 13:55 CET)leodis08-01-2025
- You’re both right but also both (me too) biased by this endless indoctrination through the expectations of others (no cyclist is worth mentioning without a tdf legacy) and sorry Fred but the part about him having to win the whole thing is misguided, Cavendish is venerated by most and he might not have even reached 50th in the how many editions he did (about double Merckxs). As rightly said Mathieu rides for HIMSELF (aside obligations) take it or leave it, I really don’t think he (and most others, even Cav or Pog) lie around in bed at night worrying or strategising about how to cement a place in history. We are lucky to witness a period where some of the best cyclists are (aside from money) motivated in the right way, you can often see in the authentic way they celebrate crossing the line after a huge effort, MVDPs are some of the best, 100% dedication, my favourite was the communion with his grandfather when he won that stage, it was visibly (worth seeing again if available) so powerful, I even think the only reason he tried the TdF at all (he’d never really shown any interest personally and I’m pretty sure it was a business “obligation” was in hommage to his grandfather who meant so much to him. Once done I think he realised he doesn’t enjoy it (should he (any of us actually) force himself to do a job he isn’t enjoying?) and saw no more reason to continue but being open he accepted to try something new, lead-out man and did it admirably. His riding career has now probably “peaked” and he’ll want to focus on those things personally still important before it’s too late and leads to regrets. I am sure he’ll regret his luck/carelessness at Olympics more than anything TdF related and among future goals, that will be his number 1 rectification target and sorry for those TdF obsessors (who often watch nothing else all year) but for many the Olympics are more important than eg the Tour, no matter what the majority of cycling thinks, and they have that right.Mistermaumau08-01-2025
- To MVDP, even if he wins 10 stages of the TDF, if he can't be overall champion (GC), he still loses.. so he thinks he has nothing to gain. He'd rather win a hundred minor races than frustrate himself trying to win the grandest race of them all. The mindset of a winner, you say? Maybe, but I don't think so. Nevertheless, he's a great cyclist. Monuments and classics, one-day races are his thing. He can ride a one-day 300 km race and win it, but a 3,500 km race spread over 21 days? Forget it.. he can win a stage or two, wear the yellow jersey for a day or two, (no mean feat, by the way) and finish in 50th place just the same, not even good enough for a podium, and he doesn't like it. To him, it's a waste of time.FredMan08-01-2025
- i’m with you on this… ALL IN for the xco world’s. a legacy of World Champion in four disciplines. that’s one for the ages…OCexile08-01-2025
- i’ve said before that i worry for mathieu’s place in history because he only has one tdf stage. cycling pundits place SO much emphasis off tdf wins that many of them still rate wva as superior to van der poel, which can ONLY be based on wout’s 9 tour wins (which impressively DO come over the whole spectrum of tdf parcours). as a fan of mvdp i wish he’d dedicate a couple years to racking up 5 or 6 more stage wins. that said, mathieu matches to his own drummer. he gets bored easily. and ultimately he’s gonna decide all in his own what does and don’t capture his interest and imagination. that’s one of the things i like BEST about him, so if he’s done with the Tour then that’s that, au revoir…OCexile08-01-2025
- I reported this in March of 2024. There was a bogus Facebook ad.davbott08-01-2025