"I still have to pinch myself" - Julien Vermote details remarkable return to the peloton with Team Visma | Lease a Bike

After his contract with Alpecin-Fenix ended after the 2022 season, Julien Vermote was unable to secure himself a deal for 2023 meaning his career at the top level looked over. Now though, aged 34, the Belgian returns to the World Tour and with Team Visma | Lease a Bike no less.

"I still have to pinch myself every now and then," Vermote admits, seemingly as surprised as anyone at the second chance he's been given after the retirement of Visma rider Lennard Hofstede left open a space in the team in conversation with Het Laatste Nieuws.

Although Vermote struggled for victories even in open competitions during 2023, he never lost hope. "I believed that another chance would come. I'm not a frequent winner but it was all the more important to keep cycling. To continue to click to do everything we can," he explains. "I was sponsored by my brother's company, my brother and brother-in-law's bicycle shop and my sisters' bed shop. That was very motivating, I didn't want to disappoint them."

From riding as a one-man team supported by his family, to competing alongside the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Sepp Kuss is a remarkable rise for Vermote. "I contacted Merijn Zeeman myself, but there was no place available. Later Maarten Wynants called me to find out what my plans were. Later I had contact with Zeeman and Grischa Niermann again," he recalls. "I have been hardened by the last period, I can still cycle fast, I have a lot of experience at the highest level and I am versatile. I believe that I can be of value to all leaders. I will do what they ask of me, that is my attitude. I believe I can become the best-ever version of Julien Vermote in 2024."