“It was incredible to see how Jonas Vingegaard handled everything during the Vuelta” – Ben Tulett takes lessons from champions ahead of bigger 2026 role at Visma

Ben Tulett did not talk about watts, climbs or tactics when he looked back on the 2025 Vuelta a Espana. He talked about leadership.

“It was incredible to see how Jonas Vingegaard handled everything during the Vuelta,” Tulett said in Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s press release setting out his 2026 plans.

That word, everything, carries weight. Tulett spent three weeks inside a Grand Tour that was not just hard, but chaotic. Stages were disrupted, neutralised or altered by protests. Riders were knocked off bikes. Plans changed daily. And through all of it, Vingegaard had to lead, not just ride.

For the full picture of how Tulett’s growing role fits into Visma’s wider 2026 strategy alongside Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and the rest of the squad, see our main hub: Visma confirm full 2026 plans of Van Aert, Vingegaard, Jorgenson and more.

Tulett’s 2025 mattered for another reason too. It followed a difficult 2024 and marked his return to momentum.

He won overall at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali early in the season, including a stage win, and followed it with strong results like podiums at Milano-Torino and the Tour de l'Ain. It was the kind of season that reminded people why he had been talked about as a long-term leader in the first place.

Then came the Vuelta. Not as a protected rider, but as a helper inside a team chasing the overall. “It was a really big learning experience for me,” he said. “I’m really enjoying learning from the champions in our team like Wout and Jonas.”

That learning did not just come from watching them on climbs. It came from seeing how they behaved when nothing around them was normal.

The 2025 Vuelta was defined as much by disruption as by racing. Protests repeatedly interrupted the race. Some stages were shortened or neutralised. Riders were forced to stop and restart with no clear rhythm. Tension followed the peloton from day to day.

Tulett never spells out what he means by “everything.” But it is impossible to separate that comment from the context of that race.

Leading a Grand Tour in those conditions demanded more than legs. It demanded calm, emotional control and the ability to keep a team focused when the race itself kept changing.

For a young rider hoping to become a leader himself, that was a different kind of education.

That education now feeds directly into his 2026. “I will have some increased responsibility within the team next season, and that doesn’t come by itself. You have to work for it,” Tulett said.

His spring will build through races like Ruta del Sol, Drome Classic, Ardeche Classic and Strade Bianche, before peaking with Itzulia and the Ardennes. “The parcours of Itzulia and the Ardennes suit me really well with the punchy climbs,” he said.

That is where he will begin to test what he learned.

The second half of his season will once again turn towards Spain, but this time with more freedom. He will head back to the Vuelta with a freer role, sharing leadership duties with riders like Wout van Aert, Matthew Brennan and Jorgen Nordhagen. “That gives me a huge amount of motivation,” Tulett said. “I’m really looking forward to showing the best version of myself there.”

He also has a specific target in mind. “I can still compete for the white jersey, so I hope I can be in the fight for that.”

For all the talk of development, Tulett is clear about what ultimately matters. “Finding a high level throughout the year is key,” he said.

But he did not become a professional cyclist to collect lessons. “I became a cyclist to win races.”

In 2025, he learned how champions behave when everything around them is unstable. In 2026, Ben Tulett’s task is simpler and harder at the same time. To take those lessons and start becoming one of them.