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Youri IJnsen • Sunday, January 7, 2024, 7:15 a.m
Visma | Lease a Bike is currently negotiating with Julien Vermote to fill the vacant position in the selection due to the resignation of Lennard Hofstede. Several sources rely on this CyclingFlits admits that the Dutch WorldTeam has already had several discussions with the 34-year-old Belgian and is close to an agreement.
Vermote impressed the Jumbo-Visma riders last season during the Belgian Road Championships in Izegem. He helped color the (preliminary) final. As a replacement for Hofstede, the yellow-black YellowB team is primarily looking for a driver with experience. Furthermore, Wout van Aert would strongly support the possible arrival of Vermote.
The Fleming has a long history of success in cycling, but was somewhat sidelined last season. At Alpecin-Deceuninck there was no contract extension for the second time. However, it didn’t stop the experienced Vermote from racing. He trained throughout the winter of 2022/2023 and continued this in the following away season.
As a loner, he kept his rhythm in Belgian professional exhibition races in 2023. He had brief successes with many of them. Vermote still felt too good to quit and kept repeating that he would rather continue racing for a few more years. This persistence now seems to be paying off.
The native of Kortrijk made his professional debut at Quick-Step in 2011 and stayed on board there until the end of 2017. He then moved to Dimension Data, where he stayed for two years. He then moved to Cofidis for a season, but according to his own statements, he fell victim to the Corona season with the French.
Servant of MVDP
He didn’t find a new team but continued training. Not for nothing, as it turns out. In April 2021 he received a contract with Alpecin-Fenix. Shortly afterwards, due to a corona infection and toxoplasmosis, there was a months-long absence, which ultimately meant that Vermote was unable to complete a single race in the Alpecin-Fenix jersey this season. However, this team showed leniency.
The brothers Christoph and Philip Roodhooft decided to extend his contract for another year until the end of 2021. In 2022 he was Mathieu van der Poel’s teammate at the Tour of Flanders, which the Dutchman won for the second time this year. A week later, Vermote also rode Paris-Roubaix, followed by many more one-day races and five smaller stage races. However, he did not receive a new contract until 2023.
Check lots of boxes
His persistence in continuing to race last year now appears to be rewarded. Due to Hofstede’s disappearance at the end of December 2023 and the close selection as Michel Heßmann is inactive pending a doping investigation, Visma | Rent a bike from Vermote. The Belgian has been taking on a role for years in which, like Hofstede, he acts at the front of the peloton for various teams.
It’s no surprise that the Dutch WorldTeam has just joined Vermote. Hofstede wasn’t the most expensive driver on the payroll and therefore a potential replacement shouldn’t have a hefty price tag hanging around his neck. Someone like Edvald Boasson Hagen wasn’t willing to drive for a small job; He goes to the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. Vermote will take advantage of the opportunity to compete with the best team in the world.
In his career so far, the Belgian has ridden the Giro d’Italia three times and the Tour de France four times and finished them all. He also started eighteen monuments, of which he completed eleven. In other words, for a servant, he is reliable, experienced, resilient and speaks the same language as the majority of the team. In other words: It fulfills many of the properties that Visma | Lease a Bike is looking for a replacement for Hofstede.
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