As part of one of the best teams on the circuit WorldTour, Bart Lemmen living a waking dream. The 29-year-old Dutchman, who signed up with the Visma | Lease a Bike at the end of the 2023 season, proved his worth thanks to remarkable performances last year. 2nd of Tour of Norway, 5th of the Bernocchi Cup and to the general of Tour Down Underthe native of Utrecht did not come far from securing a first professional victory on his list. Podcast guest The Round Lanternhe confided in his signing with one of the behemoths of the peloton WorldTourthe season he has just experienced and his biggest goal, to achieve a victory on the professional circuit.
Video – Bart Lemmen, 5th of the Bernocchi Cup
The call of deliverance
After a first professional experience in 2023, Bart Lemmen found himself without a contract when his employer, the Human Powered Healthwent out of business. At 28 years old and with a meager CV, questions about the continuation of his professional career arose. But worry quickly gave way to excitement when Merijn Sailorformer sports director of the Visma | Lease a Bikecontacted him. “I was coming back from the Oktoberfest in Stuttgart when I received a message from my manager informing me that Merijn wanted to call me” he explained during his exchange for the podcast The Round Lantern. “He said during the conversation: ‘If you say yes now, it will be arranged this afternoon.’ I looked at Nienke (his wife) and she jumped to the ceiling. Because we’ve been looking for a team for months.”
A signing experienced as a relief for the 29-year-old Dutchman who allowed him to fully live his passion after experiences in Continental UCI with the VolkerWessels Cycling Team or in ProTeam with the Human Power Health. “I really felt like I was a cyclist. Before, if someone asked me what I did, I would say I was a cyclist. Then you have to explain that you ride for a pro-continental team which, in theory could participate in the Tour de France, but who doesn’t in practice Now I could simply say: ‘Yes, I’m at Visma”https://www.cyclismactu.net/.”
“Win a race as a pro”
Present on the Tour de France for the first time in his young career, Bart Lemmen was able to accompany the Wout Van Aert and others Jonas Vingegaard in their quest for success. But he was also able to play his personal card at the very end of the season, on the Bernocchi Cupcame very close to securing a long-awaited first victory. In the good move at the front, he was finally caught in the last kilometer. “I was surprised to have held on for so long. Twenty kilometers from the finish, I still had twenty seconds left.” Finally 5th on the line, the Dutchman could rejoice but his ambitions take over. “I would like to win a race as a pro. Let there be no more zeros in ProCyclingStats” he admitted. “Of course, how great is it to win a stage in a Grand Tour or an Amstel Gold Race. But let me start with a Coppa Bernocchi. But if I had to choose: I would choose a Tour stage.”
