"Winning the Giro has not changed our ambitions for the Tour" - Richard Plugge

Richard Plugge was in Rome this Sunday to witness his team win the Giro d'Italia in style. With Simon Yates, Wout van Aert and Olav Kooij each winning stages or the overall classification at the end of the three weeks, Team Visma | Lease a Bike fulfilled it's objectives perfectly and is now looking to take that motivation to the Tour de France.

"I think we try to put together a very good race programme and to build a very good team," Plugge shared with Cyclingnews. "Our team culture, which Wout van Aert really embodies, is about giving 100 percent for each other and helping each other to win".

The Giro was a good sign of what may be to come, and for the Tour de France the team will be taking the best of the best in order to try and recover the Tour de France title that they have lost last year to Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates - XRG.

It was from the Emirati team that Simon Yates took the pink jersey from this past weekend, but Plugge assures there is no bad blood between the teams, neither through it's riders or management. "Mauro Gianetti (UAE's DS, ed.) and I just spoke, and there is a lot of mutual respect between us. They push us to become better, and I think that is what makes sport truly beautiful.

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and then you think to yourself: next time, I need to beat them. It all comes from respect. That is what makes this sport, and any sport, so incredibly exciting". And now, Visma try to take on a task that no team has ever been able to achieve before: Beat Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France.

"Winning the Giro has not changed our ambitions for the Tour. We know that Jonas has taken another step forward this winter, but we are facing a very strong rival. I do think that in a three-week race they will be closer to each other than in the one-day races, where Pogacar is phenomenal. It will be fascinating to see how far we can take it."