"Wout is worth his weight in gold in every way" - Visma boss Plugge on Van Aert, Giro win, Gesink and Tour de France
CyclingTuesday, 03 June 2025 at 10:46
Richard Plugge has reasons to be happy yesterday in Rome, and after Olav Kooij sealed the stage win and Simon Yates the overall classification, the boss of Team Visma | Lease a Bike was ready after the finish with his pink attire to celebrate the team's first Grand Tour victory in over year and a half. He has talked about some of the most important riders and topics regarding the team over the past few days.
"It's a bittersweet feeling. We're winning one of the most beautiful races in the world, but we have to say goodbye to a beautiful young woman," Plugge said to Sporza. This week the wife of Robert Gesink, Daisy, passed away, casting a dark shadow over what would otherwise be a week of spotless celebration. “She was always there; it's such a blow.”
"The emotions are so close together: one moment you lose, the next you win. We've finished the Giro brilliantly: three stage wins and the pink jersey. I couldn't have wished for more, except that someone else could still be with us." The team had a very modest start to the race, but after stage 9 in Siena everything fit into place.
After stage 19 there was a sense of disappointment in Simon Yates who looked to be losing the ability to win the race. But on Saturday, he turned everything around at the Colle delle Finestre. "It's fantastic how it turned out. Simon Yates rode consistently for three weeks, and in the end, we showed as a team how to make the race tough."
"We really showed team spirit. It's already our team's fourth Grand Tour winner, so it's truly a team victory. I think that's wonderful. I cherish this victory very much, but it's equal to all the others. Of course, the plan was to get Wout over the Finestre. We knew long ago that it would happen on the last day. Simon had his eyes on it because of the past. 2018 he lost the Giro there, but now he could win it. We seized that opportunity."
As it turned out, Yates had the legs to distance his rivals, and then the van Aert plan worked to perfection. "Wout is worth his weight in gold in every way. Yesterday, I saw photos of Wout on the Tour with Jonas Vingegaard on his wheel, and yesterday, it was Yates. Simon rode the fastest time ever on the Finestre. But when Wout accelerates in front of you, you must seal the deal."
It was the perfect sign for the team ahead of the Tour, with both Yates and Van Aert showing a very high level, which will be necessary for Jonas Vingegaard to be able to match Tadej Pogacar throughout the three weeks. "He will now take a break and then gradually build up to the Tour. His role will be slightly different than in recent weeks".
"He's had a great spring, even though he just missed out on a victory. But he's a consistent top rider, so we want to see that again in the Tour. We expect a lot from him," he said of van Aert.
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- He won't win the TDF unless Pogi messes up somehow. Pogačar didn't have a team when Vingo beat him. Now, the teams are near even and head to head Pogačar is just a better ridermd197503-07-2025
- Guy is a great classic rider, if he concentrated on a GT only I think he could win one. However, he would have to be all in to try. I like him great ridermd197503-07-2025
- To win of top 3, he needs support. A d according to the roster, they are taking a sprinter and lead out man. So, come time to climb, Remco is down 2 team members for support. To win a race like the TDF you need skill, luck (illness and falls), directions from the team and more than anything a team built to be your support on flat and then climbs. Not be out manned before you even see a climbmd197503-07-2025
- I agree, the big GC guys are there, but looking at the list, it seems a bit few teams with real GC ambitions. Or is it normal, half of the team are only there for stagesRide197402-07-2025
- Win all of the first 10 stages? Or does he mean that the profile of all of those 10 stages are suited for a win by Wout? If they mean winning 10 stages, they're banking on MVDP, Milan, and a few others to crash out on stage one. Maybe something was lost in translation.Ride197402-07-2025
- The problem is that grand tours are not always won by the best riders. In the 2025 Giro d'italia, Carapaz was the strongest rider - but Simon Yates and Del Toro had really good days on Stages 20 and 9 respectively, so they both finished ahead of him
Llywelynglyndwr02-07-2025 - God what an a hole - why does this site insist on giving a platform to these pundits who have never won a race ?Crashjames02-07-2025
- Jonas admires Tadej, he has said repeatedly he is fascinated watching him racing the classics. Normal, any intellectually honest person admire such a generational talent who's been astounding the world with his incredible versatility since he was 18-19 y.o.
maria2024202402-07-2025 - Agreed. It's a shame to watch such a talented and versatile rider spending ... 90% ?... of his resources being a domestique. FREE WOUT!!! ahahah.maria2024202402-07-2025
- Surprised there's no De Plus.joebloggs02-07-2025
That would make Wout worth about 9.4 million in gold as of today. His current salary is about 3.8 million, so write him a 5.6 million bonus check...
I was going to write something this oddly pedantic, so good job on beating me to the punch! -An Economist
Wout is awesome - he's had a horrible run of luck in the last year, but hasn't whined about it and had just been heads down, riding his heart out. Love him.
Yeah, we all love Wout. Regarding this victory, it was meant to be, Wout was supposed to have his Giro debut last year but had to cancel because of his accident. Visma got no GT victories in 2024 and when they finally got WVA ride la Corsa rosa he not only wins a stage but then he's crucial with helping both Simon Yates and Olav K achieve their goals. What a first showing