Cycling: What a successful year it has been for Jumbo - Visma. After many attempts, the overall victory at the Tour de France was finally achieved. And the competition will have to dress warmly, because the Dutch team will continue to improve.
Jumbo – Visma is in a league of its own
It's probably no surprise that Team Jumbo-Visma has fielded the best team in the cycling world over the past three years. While the Dutch squad only managed 9.923 points in 2020, that number jumped to 12.935 a year later. This season, however, they surpassed even that figure. With 15.135 points, Jumbo-Visma amassed by far the most in 2022. They racked up 48 victories, 44 second-place finishes, and 28 third-place finishes. The highlight of the year was undoubtedly the Tour de France, which they won somewhat unexpectedly thanks to Jonas Vingegaard . But what was particularly impressive was the manner in which they achieved their success. Jumbo-Visma consistently presented themselves as a cohesive, selfless team and were usually tactically superior to their rivals. A prime example of this is Christope Laporte's success: he stepped in for Wout van Aert on a Tour de France stage and promptly took the stage win. The Belgian himself won the green jersey, two stages, and almost the polka dot jersey in passing. Incidentally, he was arguably his captain's most important helper on every type of terrain.
Can the team get even stronger? Yes!
With Tom Dumoulin and Mike Teunissen, Jumbo-Visma loses two prominent riders. However, in the past two years, the two Dutchmen – like the other departing riders Chris Harper, Pascal Eenkhoorn , and David Dekker – have not been capable of top results. Accordingly, their departures are not a major blow. Instead, Jumbo-Visma has strengthened its squad. Wilco Kelderman and Attila Valter join the team and will be an immediate asset in the high mountains. All-rounder Jan Tratnik can be deployed anywhere and will be a valuable team member in both Grand Tours and the Classics. Alongside Wout van Aert, Dylan van Baarle is also expected to compete successfully for Jumbo-Visma. The Dutchman won Paris-Roubaix this year, definitively establishing himself among the top Classics specialists. The fifth and final new signing is Thomas Gloag. At 21 years old, the Briton is still a relatively unknown quantity in professional cycling. We will probably see him very rarely.