"My ambition is to win a Grand Tour with the team" - Steven Kruijswijk looks to put bad luck behind him and make Team Visma | Lease a Bike Tour de France selection
Cycling
Steven Kruijswijk has suffered a lot in recent seasons, being a victim of injury and bad luck. As Team Visma | Lease a Bike dominated in 2023, winning every Grand Tours, the Dutchman was notably absent at all three of cycling's biggest races.
“I'm still recovering. I have now broken my collarbone and shoulder twice in a row," the 36-year-old reflects in an interview with Wielerflits. "That usually doesn't make things any better. It is important to continue to pay attention to it in the future, but it is not hindering me on the bike at the moment.”
As mentioned, Kruijswijk missed out on all three of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Grand Tour victories in 2023 and the Dutchman crashed out on stage 15 of Jonas Vingegaard's 2022 Tour de France success. In 2024, the vastly experienced, Visma stalwart is keen to get back to being an integral part of the team's plans in the biggest races.
“It is once again my ambition to win a Grand Tour with the team and I just hope to be part of the Tour team again," he explains. "The way it looks now, that will happen. My year will be a success if we win the Tour with the team and I have made a major contribution to it, until the end."
"I start in Tirreno-Adriatico, together with Jonas Vingegaard. After that, I also go out with him a lot, to the Volta a Catalunya and the Itzulia Basque Country," Kruijswijk concludes. "The Tour preparation then begins with an altitude camp, followed by the Critérium du Dauphiné. It will still be open after the Tour, but that is not certain yet. I am on the longlist for the Vuelta a España.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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