There was the impressive one-two punch by Jørgen Nordhagen and Menno Huising at the Coppa Città di San Daniele , the stunning overall win by Darren van Bekkum at the Ronde de l’Isard following a remarkable display of resilience from the entire team, and the spectacular stage victory by Matthew Brennan at the Giro d’Italia Next Gen , executed through the efforts of the whole squad. Yet the standout victory for Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development came at an even higher level. Olav Kooij became the first homegrown rider to secure a stage win in a Grand Tour: stage 9 in the Giro d’Italia . Dit bericht op Instagram bekijken Een bericht gedeeld door Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@teamvisma_leaseabike) "That’s wonderful, of course, and it’s why we do what we do,” said Head of Development Robbert de Groot. “Sports directors Sierk-Jan de Haan, Robert Wagner, and I cheered hard for that victory. It proves that riders who come up through our ranks truly get the chance to develop all the way to the highest level.” Kooij’s victory makes the work that De Groot and his colleagues do – focused primarily on the long term – tangible.
Surprising Brennan
Kooij was part of the first cohort of riders in the development team, marking 2024 as the program’s fifth season. “Overall, we can only be pleased,” reflects De Groot. “With Jørgen Nordhagen, Tijmen Graat, Menno Huising, and Matthew Brennan, we’re promoting four riders to our own WorldTeam, […]
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