Wout van Aert in the lead; Jorgenson's debut and Kooij to sprint - Visma reveal Opening Weekend lineups
CyclingThursday, 27 February 2025 at 11:16
Team Visma | Lease a Bike are ready to tackle Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne. With two lineups packed with quality classics riders and sprinters, they can very realistically win one of the two Belgian classics.
The team is missing Dylan van Baarle who got an injury in January; Christophe Laporte who had been ill and the injured Niklas Behrens. Lots of plan changes right from early on, but nevertheless the Dutch team arrives at both cobbled classics with an enviable lineup and well capable of fighting for victory.
For Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, surely most of the cards will be played on Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson in the finale at the Muur-Bosberg combination. Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts and Edoardo Affini will be suporting and will also race the Belgian race.
Per Strand Hagenes and Matthew Brennan complete the lineup, but in Kuurne Olav Kooij will come in as a sprint option for the race - with Loe van Belle replacing Matthew Brennan.
"Our goal is to win a race", team DS Grischa Niermann said in a press release. "Despite the necessary changes we have had to make in the lineup, we have a very strong team for both days. We have prepared well and are motivated to get a nice result."
"Wout showed in the time trial of the Volta ao Algarve that he is in good shape. Nevertheless, we should not yet expect him to be in absolute top form this weekend. His peak is in late March, early April, when the monuments are on the programme. The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne are two nice benchmarks."
Team Visma for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad:
Wout van Aert
Tiesj Benoot
Victor Campenaerts
Edoardo Affini
Matteo Jorgenson
Per Strand Hagenes
Matthew Brennan
Tiesj Benoot
Victor Campenaerts
Edoardo Affini
Matteo Jorgenson
Per Strand Hagenes
Matthew Brennan
Team Visma for Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne:
Wout van Aert
Tiesj Benoot
Victor Campenaerts
Edoardo Affini
Olav Kooij
Loe van Belle
Matteo Jorgenson
Tiesj Benoot
Victor Campenaerts
Edoardo Affini
Olav Kooij
Loe van Belle
Matteo Jorgenson
Read also
🇧🇪 #OHN25 & #KBK25
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) February 27, 2025
Time to kick off the classic season! 🤩
These are our guys in black & yellow this weekend at @OmloopHNB and @KuurneBxlKuurne 🐝👇 pic.twitter.com/QSd4Vwlvg1
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- there are loads of people and pundits who spend a lot of time griping about how few races some of the big names compete in these days. i think it’s a dumb argument personally but to each his own. in the case of jonas, though, i think a very limited calendar makes a ton of sense and wouldn’t need to be explained by a deep fear of crashing. to me, jonas really does seem like a pure grand tour racer. the explosiveness needed for even a climber’s classic, like il lombardia, isn’t really there when heads up with guys like remco and tadej. with the exception of the occasional MIND BLOWING time trial effort, jonas is like death by a thousand cuts. over the course of days he just grinds and grinds until a breaking point. a could see him just doing the Tour and the lead up prep races, like tour de suisse. in a year like this, MAAAAYYBEEE the world championships because of the course. Now, if you throw in some (pretty understandable) skittishness about getting in another wreck, well, whatevs. wout is another story. about that i would just say that wouter is a total bad-ass and when it comes to mastering one’s own fear, van aert seems like a one-percenter to me. remember that it’s not just the crashes from the last couple years that he carries around in his head, it’s also that horrific one from the TT at the tour in like 2019, which was the worst of all of them. i don’t think he’s skipping races because he’s afraid. all of what i’ve said is just a feeling. i can’t back it up and wouldn’t try. it’s just a sloppy, half thought out IT KINDA SEEMS TO ME THAT… but it really does seem like that. to me.OCexile17-04-2025
- Yeh but he's riding great, sad unlucky flat + Pog. crashing = MvdP winning 🤷
leedorney16-04-2025 - Mads seems to race for 2nd place... tho the traffic worked in Yorkshire, for him 👍leedorney16-04-2025
- AmenMistermaumau16-04-2025
- SD Worx can’t undercut Demi any more. Have they moved on to undercutting Lotte? It’s crazy to me that the defending champion who also happens to be world champion doesn’t have the total backing of her teammobk16-04-2025
- Going on from Kelly's comments, I feel Van Aert has been mis-managed something Visma suffer badly from, they really screwed up in the giro for Roglic when a manager wanted a pee break.. & that Vuelta when Kuss just about got it... Visma aren't soo great tacticallyleedorney16-04-2025
- Typical anal Specializedleedorney16-04-2025
- yeah, van der poel’s ability to suffer is, i think, almost unparalleled. years ago, after an absolutely savage cx in namur when wout just couldn’t stay with mvdp in the last half of the last lap, van aert said, “it has always been a great quality of mathieu’s that he can ride far beyond his limit. i’m capable of riding a very good finale as well, but often he can just go a little deeper.” you see it in that classic Amstel Gold from 2019, and in every case where van der poel crosses the line and utterly collapses. people who don’t like him have always said that’s for “dramatic effect”, but it’s so obviously something that only happens after his most extreme efforts, such as his epic bonk in tirreno adriatico when he barely held off a charging pogacar on a freezing cold day. mathieu is 30, so just a few years down the road he won’t have that ability any longer. i’m glad i’ve gotten to watch so much of him while he does.OCexile16-04-2025
- Possibly Specialized? By 'faster bike' did he mean the one without a motor? The non 'turbo' version?54X1216-04-2025
- Have you looked at stills of him with others lately? Or the podium at P-R. When is the last time you saw any defining features in his skin like almost every other pro rider and most active amateurs in season. Sure, maybe he’s been heavier and the fact he probably yoyos from winter to summer can fool you into thinking he lost weight but you can’t deny there’s potential to lose quite a bit still, all the better for him.Mistermaumau16-04-2025