Team Visma Lease a Bike on the hunt for sprint victories in the Giro d’Italia 2024

On By Vaseline

After the classics of recent months, Team Visma | Lease a Bike will be hunting for stage victories in the 2024 Giro d’Italia. Sports director Marc Reef looks ahead.

“We are tackling this Giro differently than in previous years,” says Reef, who was also present with Team Visma | last year Lease a Bike won the Giro d’Italia with Primoz Roglic. “This time we don’t have to fight for every meter every day with the classification in mind. It’s different from the last six Grand Tours we’ve done. Then we always started with the rankings as the main goal.”

The sports director explains the team’s priorities: “Our main goal is stage wins. We want to achieve this with Olav especially in the flat sprints. We will also not hide in the stages where a breakaway has a good chance of success,” says the 38-year-old sports director.

The run-up to the Giro did not go smoothly; it was a spring full of setbacks. Reef: “We have lost Wout van Aert and Wilco Kelderman in recent weeks. Koen Bouwman was supposed to replace Wilco, but he became ill during the Tour de Romandie. Koen is replaced by Tim van Dijke. He, Edoardo Affini and Christophe Laporte will certainly strengthen Olav’s sprint train. In addition, Christophe will have the opportunity to achieve his own result in certain stages.”

“Moreover, we have been able to work towards the start of the Giro in perfect conditions in recent weeks,” Reef continues. “The training camps in Tenerife and Denia were perfect. Jan Tratnik, Robert Gesink and Tim van Dijke were able to put the finishing touches to their form in the Tour de Romandie. That makes us ready.”

Team Visma Lease a bike 2024 Giro d'Italia

Although overall victory is not a goal this year, the team still has a rider who can compete for a good result in the rankings in Cian Uijtdebroeks. Reef: “Cian can take his chance in the rankings. The most important thing is to learn. We’ll see what he can do in the coming weeks. We have confidence in it. We’ve been working together for a few months now and we really like it. We know better and better what we can get from each other.”

When will this Giro be a success? Reef: “We want to win stages and we will be happy if we win more than one stage. With a team that can win on several fronts, we go to work with confidence.”

The full line-up of Team Visma | Lease a Bike consists of Kooij, Laporte, Affini, Van Dijke, Gesink, Valter, Tratnik and Uijtdebroeks.