Wout van Aert calls Mathieu van der Poel his favourite opponent; Jonas Vingegaard opts for Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
For the last few years, Team Visma | Lease a Bike have been one of the leading teams in the entirety of the peloton. Front and centre of the Visma team over these seasons have been their superstar leaders Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard, with duels against storied rivals Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar making for some memorable racing in the process.
In a recent video posted to the official social media page of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Van Aert, Vingegaard and some other of the team's star riders were asked about their favourite opponents to race against. "Mathieu van der Poel. He really pushed me to the limit," Van Aert answers with a smile, as Vingegaard replies "Pogacar," firmly.
As for the rest of the team, Matteo Jorgenson goes for Primoz Roglic, although he doesn't seem completely certain. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot opts for Puck Pieterse, Cian Uijtdebroeks selects Juan Ayuso, similarly to Jorgenson though, the Belgian isn't 100%. There's no doubting who Simon Yates opts for however, with the Brit predictably naming his twin brother Adam: "I mean, we grew up racing each other from a young age and it's always very competitive."
Victor Campenaerts takes a different approach. "One I can beat," laughs the experienced Belgian, who made his return to Visma in 2025. "Kwiatkowski is a good one." Before finally, Tiesj Benoot answers like a true competitor: "I hate them all!"
Read also
The favorite opponents of our riders 👀 pic.twitter.com/A3IleJo8OC
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) May 2, 2025

Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- I think Tadej will be working on his new C7 TT position for the Tour de France :-)frieders304-11-2026
- Every great cyclist has at least two Giro/Tour doubles, and in modern cycling or what we call modern cycling, Miguel Indurain is the only guy to do it twice. I think Tadej should go for it and commit if he is putting up good numbers somewhere around January/February.awp04-11-2026
- the 6th TDF is a more record breaking opportunity than a 2nd Giro. Jonas can double up. For Remco its TDF. For Sexias it will be a good opportunity but as usual TDF will be his main goal For del Toro, yes good opportunityabstractengineer04-11-2026
- Well, this is something which isn't all that common
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - He lives in Monaco
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - It's also highly significant for Lorenzo Finn as he won there last year. Also Mateo Ramírez and Henrique Bravo if they go
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
- This is an amazing route, honestly. Let's hope that it attracts riders to make it a compelling and competitive race. Side bar amusement: going to Slovenia and passing pretty close to Pogačar's house. I wonder if they were tempting him to get all 3 jerseys at once after winning the Tour and Vuelta. After all, only a very few have ever had all three at the same time (Froome being the last).RidesHills03-11-2026
- He was a child two years ago
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route aswell. Col d'Arpy is a toughie
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026
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