Cycling: Visma | Lease a Bike is once again second in the world rankings in 2024. The Dutch team rode well, but suffered a lot of bad luck. Things should improve again in 2025.
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Visma | Lease a Bike 2024: Falls, falls, falls
Without a doubt, the Visma | Lease a Bike team was one of the strongest in the world in 2024. We can see this not only from the UCI world rankings. The individual results also confirm a successful season. A total of 33 victories and 54 other podium finishes speak a positive language. Nevertheless, 2024 was the weakest year in a long time. While the team won all three Grand Tours last year, they came away empty-handed in 2025. Only Jonas Vingegaard made it to the podium at the Tour de France. And at the monuments too, they always had to let the others go first. This dry spell can mainly be explained by bad luck with falls. Both Jonas Vingegaard, as well as most wout van aert had to deal with serious injuries. The Dane nevertheless won three tours - O Gran Camino, Tirreno - Adriatico and the Tour de Pologne - as well as a stage in the Tour de France. The Belgian won Kuurne - Brussels - Kuurne and three stages in the Vuelta a Espana - before having to give up after another fall. But they both missed their big goals. Vingegaard wanted to win the Tour de France and Wout van Aert a monument.
Being second best is not enough for them
The fact that Visma | Lease a Bike were the second best team in the world despite so much bad luck with crashes and the resulting unachieved goals in 2024 shows just how strong this team is. But being the second best team is not enough for the Dutch team. They can still look to the future with optimism. Matteo Jorgenson is a good example of this. The American switched from Movistar to Visma | Lease a Bike last winter and made a huge impact. He won the Across Flanders and Paris – Nice. He has proven several times that he can be one of the strongest riders in the world, both in the high mountains and in classics. Olav Kooij has developed further as a sprinter and has achieved eight victories this season. The only problem child seems to be Cian Uijtdebroeks The 21-year-old mega-talent from Belgium switched from Bora – hansgrohe to the yellow and black team last winter. However, he has not been able to convince anyone here so far.
Visma | Lease a Bike wants to return to #1
To be the best team in the world again in 2025, it needs less bad luck. But the transfer period was also used to take another step forward. With Rober Gesink, Jan Tratnik and Koen Bouwmann Three old hands are leaving the team, who were extremely important as helpers in the past. In addition, Visma | Lease a Bike is losing the two talents Mick van Dijke and Tim van Dijke to Red Bull – Bora – hansgrohe. And to the Norwegian talent Johannes Staune-Mittet no one seems to believe him anymore. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have let him join the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team. In return they get Simon yates and Victor Campenaerts two riders in the team who stand for immediate help. The Brit is a top GC rider and will be an incredibly valuable helper for captain Jonas Vingegaard in the high mountains. The Belgian can push on the flat like hardly anyone else. For newcomer Axel Zingle One hopes for a similar development to that of Christophe Laporte. The Frenchman is already a good sprinter and classics hunter, but he is said to still have a lot of potential. Daniel McLay can strengthen the sprint pull and Niklas Behrens will probably be planned for the classics. The list of newcomers is completed by four drivers from the company's own development team. Jorgen Nordhagen The Norwegian ex-cross-country skier is considered one of the greatest GC talents. He will help shape road cycling in the coming years.