Visma-Lease A Bike are the dominant team in the peloton but claim they are the ‘underdogs’ for Milan-San Remo, where Christophe Laporte and sprinter Olav Kooij will lead the line against Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and everyone else.
"This time, the underdog role suits us,” directeur sportif Maarten Wynants said when Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed their line-up.
“Christophe and Olav are in top form but if Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar accelerate, it will be quite a challenge to follow them. Fortunately, the favourite doesn't always win. It could go our way if we are lucky.”
The roster is completed by Tim van Dijke, Mick van Dijke, Julien Vermote, Tosh Van der Sande and Johannes Staune-Mittet.
Visma-Lease a Bike won all three Grand Tours in 2023 and a total of 69 races. Laporte won Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen, Dylan Van Baarle won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Wout Van Aert won E3 Harelbeke.
Only the Monuments escaped their often-tight grip on races, with Van der Poel winning Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, while Tadej Pogačar won the Tour of Flanders and Il Lombardia and Remco Evenepoel won Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
For that reason, Van Aert has opted to train at altitude for the cobbled classics and so skip Milan-San Remo, giving Laporte and Kooij their chance to lead. They will surely be on form and Visma-Lease A Bike will perform well as a team, as they have done so often in recent times and especially at the Opening Weekend in Belgium when they won both races.
The Frenchman was fifth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, fourth at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and 10th at Strade Bianche. He has already raced for ten days, in contrast to the limited racing of favourites Pogačar and Van der Poel.
"We are not the favourites to win, but we can play an important role in the final,” Laporte said.
“On the Poggio, I will try to stay in front as long as possible and fight for the win. If there is a big group, we have a great sprinter in Olav Kooij. It would be great if we could finish on the podium.”
The 22-year-old Kooij decided to stay at Visma-Lease a Bike despite knowing his chances in some races would be limited. He will make his Monument debut at Milan-San Remo after already winning the Clasica Almeria and sprints at the UAE tour and more recently at Paris-Nice. If this year’s Milan-San Remo goes against predictions and ends in a big group sprint, Kooij could be a real threat.
"I am really looking forward to riding my first monument. I've had a good start to the season, so we'll see what the race brings,” Kooij said.
“I don't think we have the top favourite in our team, although Christophe has started the season very well. As a team, we need to be in a good position and follow the strong men. On the Poggio, it's up to Christophe to go up with the better guys.”
