"We see cycling as a team sport and we try to beat Pogacar" - Visma on Van Aert, Jorgenson and Yates into Tour de France

Team Visma | Lease a Bike have brought their absolute A-game to the Tour de France to have at least a shot at beating Tadej Pogacar. That does not only mean having a peak-form Jonas Vingegaard, but also an '8' stacked with elite riders for all kinds of terrains and where everyone has an important role to play.

This includes many riders that in their own right could have a leadership role in a Tour de France team. One of them is Matteo Jorgenson, Paris-Nice winner, and sixth at the Criterium du Dauphiné a few weeks ago whilst working for Jonas Vingegaard. The American is a very versatile rider but also a brilliant climber, and has proven at the Tour last year that he can handle three weeks quite well - going on to finish the race in 8th place despite his support role.

“He won’t be the first to work for Jonas. We want to keep him in GC. He’s very dangerous there", head of performance Mathieu Heijboer shared with Domestique. Jorgenson however is only one of the many weapons. The team will have Edoardo Affini and Victor Campenaerts as key men for the flat stages; Wout van Aert in a free role but definitely also as a possible support man for the flat and hilly days; Tiesj Benoot for the hills and mountains...

And of course for the mountains Sepp Kuss and Simon Yates, the latter having just come from a Giro d'Italia victory. Most likely, he will be showing his best legs towards the end of the race after a very fatiguing few months. “Wout and Simon knew up front they’d do both Grand Tours, so we took that into account. For Affini and Wout, it’s not a problem. Simon was more fatigued, so he needed more time, but he recovered, and he feels ready," Heijboer assures.

It is a team with a lot of quality but the team is certain that bringing Yates to the Tour as initially planned is the right decision: “We’re confident about the decision, but we’ll only know in Paris. But like every year, we see cycling as a team sport and we try to beat Pogacar and the other opponents with Visma | Lease a Bike and Jonas.”