"I tried to get him to our team as a prospect" - Tadej Pogacar almost joined Visma over UAE according to Merijn Zeeman

Tadej Pogacar has been the biggest adversary of Team Visma | Lease a Bike over the last few years. When the Slovenian was breaking through the youth ranks however, he was actually almost a Visma rider according to the team's sports director Merijn Zeeman.

"We heard that he was a special talent. Then I looked through Primoz Roglic, his compatriot, to see who he was and whether we could get in touch with him," Zeeman recalls of his first experience of Pogacar, in conversation with NOS. "I tried to get him to our team as a prospect, but by then he had already signed with UAE Team Emirates. We did have him on our radar."

"You know that such a talent will continue to ride there," Zeeman continues, admitting that once UAE Team Emirates got their hands on Pogacar there was simply no chance the Slovenian would be making the move to Visma. "Besides that we had Primoz and we have Jonas Vingegaard. You just focus on the guys you have."

After denying the then named Jumbo-Visma and Primoz Roglic a first Tour de France win in 2020 on the final time-trial, Pogacar saw off the challenge of Jonas Vingegaard in 2021 before finally Visma began to take control of the rivalry in 2022 and 2023 as Vingegaard went back to back at the Tour de France. In 2024 however, the momentum has switched again, with Pogacar back to his very best and reclaiming the Maillot Jaune in scintillating style.

Heading into the final stage individual time-trial where a potential 6th stage win of this Grand Tour could be awaiting, Pogacar leads Vingegaard by over five minutes in the general classification, breaking a number of records along the way and becoming the first man since Marco Pantani in 1998 to complete a Giro/Tour double.