"It is not the case that the strongest always wins, there are also other components" - Merijn Zeeman on how lesser Jonas Vingegaard can challenge Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
The longer Team Visma | Lease a Bike don't officially confirm Jonas Vingegaard's absence from the 2024 Tour de France, the more likely it seems that the Dane will be present at the Grand Depart in Florence.
Having had some a horrific crash at the Itzulia Basque Country earlier this year however, with broken bones and a punctured lung seeing the two time, back to back Tour de France winner spend time in intensive care afterwards, Vingegaard will not start the 2024 Tour de France as the pre-race favourite. That honour goes to his long time rival, Tadej Pogacar.
Despite the immense form of UAE Team Emirates' Slovenian leader, as showcased by his complete domination of the 2024 Giro d'Italia however, Vingegaard remains in with a shout. At least that is the belief of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's soon departing sports director, Merijn Zeeman. "Jonas is just training, he can do that. But he was in such a mess. We just don't know yet about being 'competitive' in the Tour. I said a while ago that that is the condition for Jonas," Zeeman says in conversation with Cycloo Wielercafé.
Because of Vingegaard's lesser legs than in previous years and the fact Pogacar enters the Tour de France full of confidence and momentum, Zeeman, Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Vingegaard himself will have to work smarter, not harder if they wish to claim a Maillot Jaune hat trick. "We have now come a lot further," Zeeman explains. "Perhaps we should nuance that. It is not the case that the strongest always wins, there are also other components, such as tactics."
"We are looking at that. Is that a stage? We do not know yet. We have to look carefully at what we can expect. He also has a say in that. I've spoken to him a lot and it's really getting closer now, so we have to make a decision," he concludes. "You can't speed up some things, especially rehabilitation, after such a serious fall. It just takes a while before you get back to your best. They do everything for it. But things are going in the right direction."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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Team Visma Lease a Bike Tignes training camp squad. 💛🖤 As it looks like this will be their Tour de France team: Jonas Vingegaard 🇩🇰 Wout Van Aert 🇧🇪 Sepp Kuss 🇺🇸 Matteo Jorgenson 🇺🇸 Tiesj Bennot 🇧🇪 Christophe Laporte 🇫🇷 Wilco Kelderman 🇳🇱 Jan Tratnik 🇸🇮
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