"Jorgen Nordhagen is much further ahead than Jonas was at that age" - Visma DS sees potential heir to Vingegaard in Norwegian youngster

Jonas Vingegaard has been Team Visma | Lease a Bike's man for the big moment in recent years. Twice a Tour de France winner, he has proven himself as one of the great Grand Tour riders of his generation. Although the Dane is only 27, could Visma already have snapped up the heir to Vingegaard's throne?

The rider in question is 19-year-old Norwegian, Jorgen Nordhagen, someone who has already proven himself at under 23 and junior level as a rider with a potentially high ceiling. "Does Jorgen have the potential to grow to Jonas' level? He definitely has that potential," Team Visma | Lease a Bike sports director, Grischa Niermann says of the youngster in conversation with Wieler Revue. "Jorgen is much further ahead than Jonas was at that age."

To live up to a rider such as Vingegaard though, is not an easy task and as such, Niermann doesn't want to put full pressure on such a young talents shoulders. "You only find a Jonas once every hundred years," the sports director explains. "Jorgen has shown some nice things, but it is not yet possible to say whether he is a candidate to win a Grand Tour in the future. He is on the right track, but he is also not the type of Remco Evenepoel who we expect to excel in a San Sebastián in his first year."

Nordhagen isn't the only rider in the Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development squad that Niermann is getting excited about either. "They all have potential. Matthew Brennan, Jorgen Nordhagen and Niklas Behrens have shown that they can really win, while Menno Huising and Tijmen Graat are also really good riders," he concludes with excitement and optimism. "They will be brought carefully. I like to be surprised, but we don't expect one of those five to win a World Tour race."