Visma-Lease a Bike team manager Richard Plugge can be outspoken but is rarely angry. Yet the recent spate of high-speed crashes and injuries have hit his riders hard and left the Dutch manager sad and angry about the lack of progress in improving safety in professional cycling.
The Visma-Lease a Bike team leaders are amongst an estimated 40 WorldTour riders who have suffered serious crashes in the opening months of the 2024 season. Wout van Aert missed the biggest cobbled Classics and will not recover in time to ride the Giro d'Italia due to his Dwars door Vlaanderen crash, while Jonas Vingegaard is still in hospital in Vitoria a week after he crashed at Itzulia Basque Country.
