Visma DS Grischa Niermann: "If we want to beat Pogacar and UAE, we have to get better"

In 2024 Team Visma | Lease a Bike had a season riddled with injuries and illnesses, and ultimately at the Tour de France they were no match for Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates - XRG. But the Dutch team does not surrender to the immense power of the Emirati team, and they look to do everything that's possible to take Jonas Vingegaard back to the top this summer.

"We know what Pogacar has shown, of course. In the Tour, but also in many other races. But we also know roughly how good Jonas will have to be to compete against him," DS Grischa Niermann told In de Leiderstrui. "We do believe that Jonas can reach that level with optimal preparation and compete head-to-head against Pogacar and UAE".

"...I prefer to keep to myself exactly how we are going to compete against UAE Team Emirates. But we have a lot of confidence in them, even though we have also seen that they have become more professional and stronger. We have to catch up again, but that is more of a Mathieu Heijboer (the team's head of performance, ed.) thing".

Vingegaard, despite his massive list of injuries after the Itzulia Basque Country crash, managed to regain his best level and compete brilliantly at the Tour - but in the high mountains, the evolution of Pogacar proved too much for the Dane. The Dutch team does not look to copy UAE's methods, but instead be able to take their level to the next step once again, just as they have a few years ago.

"I don’t think we should copy anything, but we should open our eyes. If we want to beat Pogacar and UAE, we have to get better. As a team, they have made a big step in terms of professionalism, but now it’s up to us to find the next step. We have to figure out how we can get better, that’s the core".

It is difficult to do that however in a period where the top teams are already so extremely detail-oriented. "But it will be difficult to create a big gap with them. In terms of nutrition, aerodynamics and such, all the teams are now trying to catch up with us, just like we once did. You always want to go for the win, but you also have to be realistic. It’s more fun to be the strongest team and rider, but maybe we shouldn’t take the initiative sometimes".

Niermann, who has successfully helped the team to many of it's triumphs, has also commented on the 'controversy' that the team's Tour lineup is unlikely to include any rider of the team's nationality. But he assures, once again, that the priority is performance and not the country that the riders represent. "It would be detrimental to last year's team to say that we are stronger this year. Wilco Kelderman and Bart Lemmen filled that in very strongly and with a stronger team we would not have been able to change the final result. But it is also true that a stronger team can help you create more chances against Pogacar".

The team does not settle, at the moment, with anything less than winning the Tour de France. An ambitious stance, a possible one. "We all have to take a step against Tadej Pogacar. He has raised the bar a bit, but that is how it has been every year so far in my opinion. Jonas was also better in 2023 than he was in 2022, and Pogacar was better again in 2024. So he will have to be better again in 2025, because we all keep improving".