The eccentric Belgian ex-Hour Record holder is the squad's elder statesman and road captain, marshalling the team through crosswinds, echelons and the chaos of week one. At 34 he has traded personal glory for service, though his engine remains vital for the opening TTT in Barcelona. With Wout van Aert absent, his experience and tactical radar matter more than ever.
Palmarès
- UCI Hour Record, 55.089 km (2019)
- European ITT champion (2017, 2018)
- Tour de France stage 18 winner (2024)
- Giro d'Italia stage 15 winner (2021)
- World Championships ITT bronze (2018)
- Tour de France super-combativity award (2023)
Cut-out factHe moved to Namibia for two months of altitude training before breaking Bradley Wiggins' Hour Record in 2019 — and his Belgian nickname 'Vocsnor' comes from the moustache he sometimes sports.
The squad
Riding the 2026 Tour with Jonas Vingegaard, Matteo Jorgenson, Bruno Armirail, Sepp Kuss, Edoardo Affini, Per Strand Hagenes, Davide Piganzoli — see the full Visma | Lease a Bike team page.
Portrait: AI paper-collage render (gpt-image-2) after a reference photograph — source: Wikimedia Commons, author: Joost Pauwels, license: CC0.
A fan project — not affiliated with the Tour de France or A.S.O.
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