Could Visma be using artificial intelligence to try and top UAE in 2026? "It’s not impossible"

It’s no surprise that Team Visma | Lease a Bike unveils a technological leap each season to gain an edge in the peloton, and 2026 will be no exception. This time, though, the team is keeping suspense at its peak: the new “marginal gain” already exists, but it remains under wraps.

In recent years, the Dutch team has led with innovations such as revolutionary time trial helmets, a personalized nutrition app, and a novel tire-pressure control system. Each season, the team returns to the drawing board looking for the next differentiator.

And this year will be no different. Although the innovation is ready, the team prefers not to share details. “We always want to be very transparent, but I can’t say anything about this yet because it would be getting ahead of ourselves,” explained Jacco Verhaeren, the team’s head of coaching.

Verhaeren did clarify what the innovation is not. It’s not a new tire-pressure system like the one riders such as Wout van Aert used at Paris-Roubaix. “Those systems already exist and continue to evolve. There’s no revolution there for now,” he added.

Asked whether the advance could be linked to artificial intelligence, the coach kept the option open: “It’s not impossible. You’ll see it in races or in training,” he said, hinting that the novelty will be visible on the bike.

Questions will remain on what the Dutch team might pull off, but the truth is that at the top of the sport, it is required to be ahead of the game to be at the top. “Of course we’re not blind to what happens around us, but you don’t set yourself apart by copying what other teams do,” Verhaeren explained. “We try to stay ahead of the competition with our own original developments. Only then can we defend or even improve our place in cycling’s pyramid.”