Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, January 2, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter. - Blaise Pascal
Plato's dialogue Phaedo is available in both audiobook & Kindle eBook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- January 3: X20 Trofee Koksijde-Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Cross
- January 18 - 26: Tour Down Under
Latest completed racing:
- January 1: GP Sven Nys Cross
- December 30: Diegem Cyclocross
- December 26: Gavere Cyclocross
- December 27: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
- December 15: Namur Cyclocross-Citadelcross
- November 17: Flandriencross
- November 3: European Cyclocross Championships
- November 1: X20 Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
Here’s the team’s news:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike proudly unveils its 2025 kit, staying true to the iconic yellow and black that defines the team’s identity. By keeping the full design unchanged, the team reinforces their recognizability and continues to build their brand.
Just like last year, Wout van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard and Marianne Vos will proudly wear yellow and black in 2025, alongside some new teammates like Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Simon Yates.
The 2025 Visma | Lease a Bike kit.
Driven by unity, precision, and a shared purpose, Team Visma | Lease a Bike thrives on collaboration and alignment, embodying The Power of the Beehive. It’s a mentality that makes the team unstoppable. The familiar yellow and black colors remain a clear reflection of Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s identity, symbolizing courage, dedication, forward thinking, commitment, and team spirit. We don’t just race to win; we ride beyond victory.
Jasper Saeijs, Manager Marketing and Communications, is proud of the 2025 kit: “By sticking with the same design and our yellow and black colors, we strengthen the identity that we’ve built over the last couple of years. During the season we will launch multiple campaigns that will emphasize our unique culture and identity. We are ready for a new season and to show The Power of the Beehive.”
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While the new kit reflects their dedication to continuity, Team Visma | Lease a Bike is also looking forward to deepening their brand and identity through campaigns and communications throughout the year. For instance, Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s adding a new detail to their 2025 kit: the Yellow B. logo will feature on the chest. Drawing on the strength of everything the team has built over the years, fans can expect to see more of what defines them both on and off the bike.
Richard Plugge, Managing Director, notes: “I’m happy we’re continuing with yellow and black, because it represents who we are and what we stand for. The achievements we’ve made in these colors are a testament to our strength as a team. Our success comes from working together towards our shared goal to inspire by winning together.”
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Here's the team's post:
"2024 was a successful year" - is that how you sum up a season from a sporting point of view?
We are Vuelta winners! Not many teams have won a Grand Tour in recent years, but we are one of them. That gives us confidence. And, one often forgets that we were second in the Giro as well. To be on the podium of a Grand Tour is something to be proud of. We also won the Dauphiné and were on the podium at Tirreno and Romandie. With this list you can talk about a successful year. But it also shows the shortcomings.
Ralph Denk at the 2024 Tour de France. Sirotti photo
What was missing for a perfect season?
Up to now we have concentrated a lot on the stage races. With our transfer offensive for next year, we have brought riders into the team who can also make their mark in one-day races. True to the motto: more talent for the whole cycling year.
What is Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's goal for the 2025 season?
After this season, the goal is clear: we want to win a Grand Tour again. But we also want to go one step further and focus more on one-day races. With all the great talent we have in the team and the big investments we have made, it is absolutely within reach.
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What changes is the sport of cycling facing next year?
There are two issues that stakeholders are working very hard on behind the scenes right now. One is to make our sport safer and the other is to reform the calendar. As far as safety in cycling is concerned, we will see the first results already next year, but a lot of the bigger changes will have a long-term effect. For us as a team there's also a change, because we are ending our membership in the MPCC after 12 years. In that time, many of the MPCC's demands have become WADA/UCI rules. This shows how important our involvement has been during this time. Now we can move on to new challenges.
What are these challenges? What do you wish for the future of cycling?
Cycling needs to become more attractive and modern. In many areas, cycling has stood still for too long, while the world of entertainment has changed completely. We need better digital formats so that our sport can attract new fans through social media. And I believe in globalization without losing our traditions. The myth lives on the epic climbs of the Tour de France and the cobblestone classics in the spring, but cycling also lives in the U.S. and South America, for example. I would like to see the best riders compete against each other more often. Because the duels between the stars inspire the fans, these duels write history.
If cycling as a whole becomes more modern, what is your vision for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe?
We want to be the most attractive cycling team in the world. I know that is a very big claim. But as a team manager, I have always thought ambitiously and for the long term. We have already made the first decisions to get us there. We believe that developing talent is the key to success. That's why we invested in our Rookie program and built our own U23 team. We have also taken our performance infrastructure to a new level. Because in modern cycling, three factors are particularly important: nutrition, technical development, and mental performance. We have invested a lot in these areas.
Why is talent development so important to you?
To become the most attractive brand in cycling, the way we race is crucial - but there is much more to it. I ask myself: how can we develop iconic riders to win the Tour de France in ten years' time? It starts with our branding and scouting to be an attractive team for young talent. With the Rookies, we now have a seamless structure from juniors to the WorldTour and on top, we now have the best experts in the world in the team to develop the next generation of riders. And with Red Bull, we have a partner to tell and market the story "from teenager to Tour winner" around the world. My dream is well known: I want to win the Tour de France. If we can do that with a rider we have developed in our team, that would be the icing on the cake.
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