"We go to bed every day at 8pm" - Victor Campenaerts' move to Spain and new lifestyle bringing in the benefits

Modern cycling is all about the perfectioning of details and few other riders in the peloton are doing it like Victor Campenaerts. Since joining Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2025 the Belgian has improved significantly and seems to be a perfect fit with the team's strict programs. Even more so, he is developing his own routines which seem to be bringing benefit, including an 8pm sleep time on the daily.

The 34-year old rider began his season at the Vuelta a Andaucia where he rode aggressively but didn't manage to bring in results; but at Paris-Nice he was connected with Jonas Vingegaard once again and he put in a massive week of riding. Although he was missing from the key echelon of the race on stage 4, Jonas Vingegaard thrived on that day out front. Campenaerts was a road captain as usual for the Dane but on the climbs specially his level was very high.

"Apart from the team time trial, we had a great course here. In the final stage, we had everything well under control," Campenaerts said in words to Sporza. "We made optimal use of the team. It is a wonderful feeling when you feel the competition realizes there is nothing they can do about it."

In the final day of the race Visma looked to control the stage to provide Vingegaard another opportunity to win a stage, and Campenaerts climbed as well as one could expect. After the work of Bruno Armirail, the 34-year old's short pull on the climb to the Côte de Linguador saw the group down to only Vingegaard and Lenny Martínez. Later on, he sprinted to 13th on the day - and 17th in the overall classification.

He is a perfect fit in the Dutch team and is potentially Jonas Vingegaard's most important support rider at this point in time. With the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France both in his schedule, he will be a key part of Visma's plans for the season, but he hopes to increase his level into the Grand Tours as he has not done altitude training as of yet.

"I am very happy with my condition. And I hope that 4 weeks of altitude training before the Giro will add something extra. But the realist in me says that I should also be satisfied if I can maintain my current level," he admits. "The team and Jonas will be happy with that too."

Campenaerts' strong performance in France, despite not having altitude training yet, may be the result of yet another step taken in the search of performance. As many other pros have done, he moved to Spain this winter so as to benefit from the better weather, and has also developed some unusual sleep schedules.

"I may not have peaked for this period yet, but I have worked very, very hard. I have been in Spain with my family since November 1st; I haven't been in Belgium for a single day. We go to bed every day at 8pm. My girlfriend just joins in. Taking care of yourself always pays off sooner or later," he adds.

He isn't racing again now until making the trip to Bulgaria for the Grande Partenza, and will be with the Giro block at altitude in order to try and reach his peak form.

"I am returning to Spain now, where I will be with my family for another 2 weeks. After that, I will drive on to Font Romeu to acclimatize to the altitude. From there, I'll fly on to Mount Teide, where we will train with the team for 3 weeks. So, in total, I will have spent 4 weeks at altitude. Normally, that means you're in good shape," he concluded.