"I've also seen plenty of unfounded criticism" - Visma boss Plugge on team's online and TV criticism
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates - XRG are at the top of pro cycling and they are the two teams that have battled for victory in all Grand Tours. Hence, their tactics have been analyzed to the tiniest of detail in a constant basis this year and often there is a lot of negative debate on both teams. Visma boss Richard Plugge believes a lot of it is unfounded and simply illogical.
"One of the most important values and characteristics of our team is that we are the most internally critical of all,. We scrutinize every decision, consult with external advisors, and strive to learn every day. It's in our team's DNA. Yet, I've also seen plenty of unfounded criticism recently," Plugge said in an interview with the Dutch RIDE Magazine.
The team has won the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España this year, have taken several other high-level victories and results and score second behind UAE in the UCI points scored this season. By all means, the Dutch team cannot complain of a bad season, and a Tour de France triumph only did not happen because of Tadej Pogacar's presence in the race.
"One commentator or analyst knows it better than the next,. We're used to receiving tons of criticism in our team. We want to be the best team in the world, which means the pressure is high. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was the best in the women's Tour de France this summer. This was also due to a near-perfect tactical performance by the entire team," he argues. "The growth of the women's team is wonderful to see; after a difficult start, the support staff is on top of things."
Plugge takes note of the online discourse regarding the team, but he was specifically apalled by the commentary on Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's weight and personal life following her Tour de France Femmes triumph, not to mention the doping allegations that are also stringed across by a specific section of the cycling audience.
"We can easily live with criticism from others. What I really can't get used to, however, is the difference in criticism of women's cycling (and perhaps women's sport) in general and our women's team in particular. Why is there so much focus on other, non-sporting matters like relationships, how the women behave, and how they look?" Plugge asks. "And this summer, so much on weight? While that's not an issue at all for the men."
"Our women and men compete at the highest level. In different categories, with different specific characteristics. But please judge both categories on their sporting values. On their performance, their preparation, their choices. The team management if necessary, on their tactics, the new signings or departures."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
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