"There's a tipping point in everyone's career" - One of Visma's veterans on Tour de France and retirement
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike has several long-term veterans in the team, many of them climbers. Whilst the level increases by the year, Wilco Kelderman continues to be competitive throughout the generations and although he is fully on a domestique role currently, he continues to have the motivation at age 34 and he believes the Tour de France is a race that brings him motivation like no other.
But thoughts of retirement do exist in the distance for the Dutchman. "Maybe I'll continue for another year after 2027, but we'll have to wait and see," Kelderman shared with Wielerflits. "My family is at home, my daughters are growing up. Sometimes, going to training camps and competitions at high altitude is a bit difficult. But my motivation remains intact".
Kelderman adapted well to his new role, after many years as one of Visma's leaders. In 2013 he was already riding alongside the best in the world, at a point in time where it wasn't common for a rider of such young age to do so. He has suffered many injuries and illnesses during his career however, but has continued to perform and perhaps his best season was in 2020 in which he finished on the Top10 of every single stage-race he started and then went on to finish third at the Giro d'Italia where he even led te race in the final week.
"The desire to train hard and do everything to be at the front of the race is the same. As long as that remains, I'll continue. But there's a tipping point in everyone's career where factors like family and physical fitness make cycling less enjoyable, and you're done."
Tour de France back on his schedule?
It's quite hard to make it into Visma's Tour de France block, a highly competitive team who has for several years now almost fully put its focus on the Grand Boucle. He's raced it six times, out of 19 Grand Tour participations, but this year has instead raced the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España where he assisted Simon Yates and Jonas Vingegaard to overall success. Kelderman continues to be an experienced figure and quality climber that aids significantly towards these goals.
But he does want the Tour, specially after he proved in recent years he's still got the legs to perform there. "I really enjoyed it in 2023 and 2024. I've noticed that having a plan to win the Tour or to dominate a race makes me stronger. If I'm performing well, I can be useful in the upcoming races. I'm curious to see what plan the team will come up with."
And collective success is what lays in his mind above all, despite him still not having a World Tour win to his name and not taking the top step of the podium for over 10 years now. "I appreciate the team's successes and I'm very happy to be able to train hard every day. I don't regret any choices in my career, nor do I feel like I've missed any opportunities by riding for others."
Wilco Kelderman during 2025. @Sirotti
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.
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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)...
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leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
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- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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