Julien Vermote on first days at Visma | Lease a Bike: "I'm not easily impressed anymore, but I am by this team"
Cycling
Julien Vermote joins Visma | Lease a Bike as the team's late addition, filling up the empty spot left by retiring Lennard Hofstede. The now 34-year-old Belgian didn't find a new team at the end of 2022, but he didn't give up and continued racing the local Belgian races, consistently finishing in top 10s, rocking in the jersey of his self-founded one-man team. He now tells his story at WielerFlits.
"It all happened during the last few days very quickly. My brother and I have always continued to lobby, but most teams are nowadays crazy about youngsters. In that respect, it is necessary that you regularly let them know that you are still there," he continues.
"In October I called Merijn Zeeman myself, but then I was told that there was no room. Until I received a phone call from Maarten Wynants in mid-December, who said that the situation had changed. After that I came into contact with Merijn and Grischa Niermann again. I think it helped me that I had contacted them earlier. They knew my motivation."
"I have to say: I'm not easily impressed anymore, but I am by this team. Of course, I have only been really involved for a few days, but when you see how things are going... Everything is structured in such a way that you quickly understand why they are doing so well in the race. They win the three Grand Tours in one season, they perform numbers with the entire team collectively. You can't ignore that. That's not a coincidence or anything."
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- So far, a good series about riders before my time, even if the text feels AI generated like so much on this site. About the rider, he seems like one of many who are active fan favorites but don’t survive in the stories of cycling, a few decades later - I didn’t really know anything about him and this was a good read, thank you!RidesHills15-11-2026
- A calm, honest documentary, a bit of hagiography but mostly not too much. When he talks about a coffee shop, it aligns with several things in his world - he might want calm, but he does (more than a little bit) have someone near him (his fiancee) who makes sure that things happen the way he expects. Many atheletes have retired only to find out just how much others were taking care of their lives for them. If they work out (I'm old, things happen), I am sure it will take a renegotiation, which is a good thing. I truly enjoyed watching it, seeing him, seeing her, seeing the whole system built around him.RidesHills15-11-2026
- You do? My mother grew up around Bleiburg (Pliberk), across the border in Austria . My grandparents lived close to the train station in Bleiburg, and I spent a lot of the 70s and 80s there. The "Jugo" train of my youth went to Dravograd or Maribor, exotic places (behind the wall) at the time. What a moment that was, the 10 days war of '91 - times sure have changed.RidesHills15-11-2026
- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
Loading
📢𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨📢 We’d like to welcome 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚 to our team! The 34-year-old Belgian is an experienced rider who has been riding in the pro peloton since 2011. Read more 👇🔗
2 Comments