by In the absence of the injured Wout van Aert, Visma-Lease A Bike’s Paris-Roubaix squad is taking shape, even if there remains a question over the availability of Christophe Laporte for Sunday’s race.
The Dutch squad is set to line up in Compiegne with former winner Dylan van Baarle leading the way after he recovered from a recent illness, while Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Matteo Jorgenson will also take a starring role.
However, Laporte’s participation has yet to be confirmed with the Frenchman still fighting to be fully fit after battling stomach problems and a fever since dropping out of Milan-San Remo at the start of the month.
The European champion, who won Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen last spring, would be a valuable addition to the team as they seek to take the fight to defending champion and overwhelming race favourite Mathieu van der Poel. However, his status will not be confirmed before Thursday.
“We will know on Thursday whether Christophe races or not,” Visma-Lease A Bike directeur sportif Arthur van Dongen told WielerFlits. “In the coming days we’ll have to decide who exactly will ride Paris-Roubaix.
“Julien Vermote and Tosh Van der Sande are on the reserve list, while Mick van Dijke replaces Wout van Aert. We can decide exactly who will race by Thursday at the latest.
“We’ll meet again and we will explore the options. In any case, Christophe is not there yet.”
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Van Baarle and Jorgenson will be joined in the squad by Van Dijke and his twin brother Tim as well as Per Strand Hagenes, who broke his nose at the E3 Saxo Classic. Two from Laporte, Vermote and Van der Sande are expected to fill the remaining two spots on the seven-man lineup.
Meanwhile, the injured van Aert – who would’ve led the squad this Sunday were it not for the broken collarbone, ribs, and sternum sustained at Dwars door Vlaanderen – is back on his feet and exercising.
The Belgian star posted an activity to Strava on Wednesday morning, a 3.98km, 55-minute walk in his hometown of Herentals titled ‘To stand still is to go backwards’.
Van Aert underwent surgery last week and returned home at the weekend. He’ll now focus on recovering and returning to racing, possibly in time for the Giro d’Italia in a month’s time as he seeks to stick to his planned 2024 schedule focussing on a debut at the Grand Tour and the Paris Olympic Games in August.
DS Zeeman set to depart at end of season
Elsewhere at Visma-Lease A Bike, the team has confirmed that team leader and directeur sportif Merijn Zeeman will be departing his role at the end of the 2024 cycling season.
The Dutchman, who has been with the squad since 2013 after moving from Argos-Shimano, will move into football next year as the general manager of the Dutch Eredivisie team AZ.
News of the move was first broken by Dutch website BNR on Tuesday evening, while WielerFlits later reported that the deal is done. Visma-Lease A Bike and AZ both confirmed the move on Wednesday afternoon.
45-year-old Zeeman, who has worked in cycling since 2003 and has been a key part of Visma-Lease A Bike’s rise to one of the top teams in the sport, is set to stay on until the winter before making the switch.
“This is a difficult decision, which I also take with pain in my heart. Precisely because I have this great organisation so close to my heart,” Zeeman said in a statement released by the team. “We have come a long way and together we have made sure that we have become one of the most successful teams in recent years. I am incredibly proud of that.
“Our culture with our people and our innovative approach has created an amazing development in which we were able to write history together, with the success in 2023 as the absolute highlight. Team Visma-Lease a Bike is my family, which I have lovingly put my heart and soul into for 13 years. But I also believe that it is good for everyone’s development to look for new challenges and stimuli over time.
“Continuing my career at football club AZ is my next step and I dare to take that step because I leave our strong professional organization, led by my good friend Richard Plugge, in the capable hands of my colleagues. But first, we want to write history together, also in 2024. We are fully engaged in that with a very nice start to the year, and we want to follow that up strongly in the coming months.”
Jonas Vingegaard was questioned about Zeeman’s departure ahead of Wednesday’s stage 3 of Itzulia Basque Country before the news was officially confirmed. The Dane said that Zeeman’s departure would be a big loss, given that he has played a big part in making the team what it is today.
“Merijn is of course very, very important for the team. He’s been a big part of the team for at least my whole part of the team and way before that. He’s been so important for the team so of course it would be a big loss if he moves on,” Vingegaard told the assembled media, including Sporza.
“I think him and Richard [Plugge] and Mathieu [Heijboer] and also Grischa [Niermann] – with the four of them they’ve had a really good team. They’ve brought the team to where it is today so for sure he’s one of the big architects behind it.
“We will have to see whether the rumours are true or not. If it is like that then it is like that, and we cannot change it. It’s his decision but of course, I hope he will stay in the team.”
