Koen Bouwman on changing colours after decade with Visma: "I like it, but it is very different"

Koen Bouwman made a radical decision coming into 2025 - to leave Team Visma | Lease a Bike after nearly 10 years, and pursue luck at Team Jayco AlUla. His start with new team was hampered by an injury, but during the brutal stage 4 of Tour of the Alps, the 31-year-old seemed once again to be near his best legs.

"I like it very much, but it is very different," Bouwman tells WielerFlits about the difference between Visma | Lease a Bike and Jayco AlUla. "Especially in terms of training, and I have to get used to that. The team and the staff are very friendly and they have been very relaxed about my injury, so in that respect I am very happy with the team."

Visma | Lease a Bike has been praised for years for the structure that helped the team reach the top. Does he notice that in the approach of his Australian team? "I think that every team trains differently and has different aspects. This team also has quality and knowledge, but the training is very different. Then we also have to evaluate after the Giro whether that suits me or whether we have to go back to the old rhythm. We will see," he says.

Bouwman's pre-season therefore wasn't ideal, but things are already on the right track again. "My legs felt better than expected there," he said after Volta a Cataunya. But he doesn't want to talk about top form yet. "You always want more, you know? You always want to be better."

"That's also the beauty of top-level sport... In 2022 I probably had the worst preparation ever for a Grand Tour. I was sick for a long time and then you ride around with legs that I've never had before," he refers to his two stage victories in the Giro and his victory in the mountain classification that year. "It can go either way. It was difficult to keep confidence, I want to get that back this week in one or two stages."