Robert Gesink on Jumbo-Visma: "Our tactic is that you put many strong men together, who will do anything for each other"
Cycling
Robert Gesink is no unknown to celebrating a Grand Tour victory, his experience has been able to support several leaders to success over the past few years in Jumbo-Visma, and he's done it again at the Vuelta a Espana. He talked about some of the key's to success and who was his strongest teammate at the race.
“This is very special, I would never have believed this before. We did it, three Grand Tours with three different men. It is nice to be part of that,” Gesink told Sporza. “How did this work? There's a lot of work and planning behind it. Many guys have been working specifically toward this goal. Also to the Tour, also to the Giro. In addition, we have many good riders together and there is a focus on the little things."
"Then it all has to come together. Our tactic is that you put many strong men together, who will do anything for each other. That is our selection policy, to take them into account and make clear agreements in advance. That's a clear plan. We are a good group of comrades, so you can do great things.”
The five riders that rode in support of their leaders at the Vuelta rarely had a bad moment, but all Kuss, Vingegaard and Roglic also managed to avoid bad days and unnecessary time losses. With their obvious climbing ability, it meant that it was virtually impossible for the team to be on the back foot. Although they raced more aggressively at the start of the race and not at pace as in the Tour (and then raced each other), the race was virtually sealed after stage 13 where they looked head and shoulders above the competition.
“That's difficult to say," Gesink answers when asked who was the best in the Dutch team. "Roglič is a winner and a fighter, and he had also prepared specifically. Jonas - with all due respect - continued to cycle on his Tour form. And Sepp navigated it very well, which was perfect for our strategy. And then he stood there. There's something to be said for everything. But we are happy that we ended it this way with three men. We as a team can be proud of that. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion about that.”
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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Some prophetic words of @rogla more than three weeks ago. #colouringhistory
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