Jumbo-Visma's manager Plugge talks about long-term plan "to win races in an overwhelming way"
Cycling
Jumbo-Visma have taken a step up this year in terms of focus, using their leaders racing together along the year to create a lineup that saw the very best riders present at the start of the Tour de France. Team manager Richard Plugge talked about the campaign.
In a column for RIDE Magazine, Plugge wrote that in 2013, "under the name Ride the future, we wanted to leave the past behind, start with a clean slate and give cycling back to the fans... That took time. This caused unrest, setbacks and deep depressions. First we had to survive, ensure that we got and kept the right to exist."
However as the years went by the team started to heavily contest Grand Tour with the presence of Steven Kruijwsijk, and later on Primoz Roglic who the team gathered from the continental ranks, who went on to become the team's new star in the late 2010's. The presence of Jonas Vingegaard soon came up to further bolster the team's chances in the Grand Tours.
“Last winter I called our intended strategy for 2022 in an interview with l'Equipe 'total cycling'," he said, explaining that it was a term "to win races in an overwhelming way, with a tactic that misleads others."
Read also
"Where Team Sky set a new standard with marginal gains, we have further professionalized it. And with attractive course tactics. Under the leadership of Merijn Zeeman, we worked very hard on this, and it worked," he concluded.
The Dutch team went on to win the Tour de France, the points classification and six stage wins despite the several abandons that it suffered along the way. They have positioned themselves atop the cycling world and will look to defend their title in the upcoming season.
Read also
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Schreiber won. UCI please admit your fault and correct result.averagecyclist10-11-2026
- She deviated from her line - end of
leedorney10-11-2026 - If I was Lucinda Brand, I'd refuse to wear the jersey. Is there a rule that she "has to" wear it, as the winner? It would certainly feel like stolen valor.wrsty10-11-2026
- but don't let your socks be too long or handlebars be a cm too narrow.mij10-11-2026
- Saw a casual interview with Geraint Thomas and him a few years ago. Seems like a nice laid guy and I wish him well.GregT10-11-2026
- Ernesto Maggioni - The president of the commissaires Mafia. It is getting evident that this guy is basically "Iamalwaysrightandyouarestupidsoiwontlistentoyou" kind of guy. So fire him so that he can be always right in his homeabstractengineer10-11-2026
- Somehow it has got into his mind that he is a GC rider. He is primarily a classics and stage rider who can perform on GC given his day. As a result he is wasting his time on TDF GC and once committed to GC you are too tired to do anything else.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
- This is such a black eye to women's professional cyclocross if this result remains. Marie Schreiber won this race fairly. This finish is not unlike others in cyclocross. Lots of moving around to get to the finish not to cut anyone off , but to generate a sprint on soft wide tires caked with mud and sand. This is not nearly the same as a road race between two riders sprinting to the finish on faster bikes and thinner firmer tires. The powers in charge need to use some common sense, reverse this result and remember this is Cyclocross not Road racing. Unbelievable. . .Zencycle09-11-2026
- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026
Loading
🇭🇷 #CRORace 🔟 seconds is the difference in the GC ⏱️
Write a comment