Visma DS confident his team can fight for the win at Liege-Bastogne-Liege: "That’s the beauty of cycling - anything can happen”

Team Visma | Lease a Bike head to Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2025, uncharacteristically under the radar. Despite lacking a standout favourite for the win however, team sports director Arthur van Dongen is quietly confident that Visma can get themselves in the mix if they play their cards right.

“We’re going with three riders we believe can be there in the final: Tiesj Benoot, Ben Tulett, and Attila Valter,” Van Dongen previews the Ardennes Monument in a pre-race conversation with Wielerflits. “We’ll try to get one of them into an early break, if it makes sense strategically, to get ahead of the fireworks from the big favourites on climbs like La Redoute and Roche-aux-Faucons. That’s the beauty of cycling - anything can happen.”

If the form of the Spring so far is anything to go by, it's likely Benoot could end up being Team Visma | Lease a Bike's best shot at success, but Van Dongen insists that the Belgian isn't the only option for a top result. “In La Fleche Wallonne, Tiesj rode strongly, especially considering he’d crashed earlier. Ben felt good too, but like many others, he was affected by the cold. Today’s a different route, different conditions, so we definitely believe we can have a strong race,” the sports director explains. “It’s difficult to put a specific number on it beforehand. After the top tier of favourites, there’s a very wide field of riders who could compete for a top-five or top-ten finish. We absolutely expect Tiesj to be in that group.”

Visma are unlikely to be on the front foot and attacking the race though. “I don’t think we’ll be the ones lighting it up early," Van Dongen concedes. "We’ll wait for our moments, make sure we’re well positioned, and follow moves in the first part. We’re not planning to go on the offensive from the start. We’ve often seen others go very early. If you can follow that, then by all means do it. But we’ll stick to our own plan at first.”