At the annual team presentation in Amsterdam, the squad announced its goals for the new cycling year. In addition to success in the spring classics and the Giro d'Italia, the Dutch team aims for a third overall victory in the Tour de France.

"The Tour de France is the biggest cycling race of the year. I am the reigning champion, and I will do everything to defend my title this summer. I want to make sporting history in France”, Vingegaard said at the team presentation of his big goal for 2024. "I have to ensure that I can stay at the top and fight for victory.”

The Grand Départ in Italy kicks off the 111th Tour de France, which travels through the Pyrenees and culminates in the French Alps with a final climbing time trial in Nice. "The entire route feels tailor-made for me. There will be a lot of climbing, especially in the third week. We will have to be on our guard, especially with the strong competition from the other teams in 2024”, said the Dane, referring to Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic.

After eight years with the Dutch cycling team, the latter joined the German team BORA-Hansgrohe last winter. He will be a formidable opponent for Team Visma | Lease a Bike next summer. "We all know Primoz is an incredibly strong rider. We need to have a good plan to beat him. We'll do what we always do: make a rock-solid plan beforehand and ensure we're perfectly prepared for the start in Florence”, Vingegaard said.

Next summer, the winner of the last two Tour editions will be without Belgian Nathan van Hooydonck (retired) and Wout van Aert. Vingegaard: "It's a significant loss. Wout is one of the best riders in the world, and Nathan was also an important helper. But we have a strong team, and I am convinced we will start with a good group of riders again this year.”

Van Aert, the Belgian all-rounder for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, will race his first Giro d'Italia in 2024. He will be challenging for stage wins alongside sprinter Olav Kooij. "It will be a fascinating grand tour”, predicted Merijn Zeeman. "Newcomer Cian Uijtdebroeks will also be there, but we won't pressure him for a good GC result. The focus will be on taking stage wins.”

The Vuelta a España, the last grand tour of the year, is traditionally held after the Tour de France. "The course has just been announced, so we still have to work out all the details, but the expectation is that Kuss will try to defend his title with Van Aert at his side”, the sportive director said. "We will finalise these plans later, in the summer."

"The last edition of La Vuelta was extraordinary, a dream come true”, a proud Sepp Kuss said in Amsterdam. "We won all the grand tours, and I contributed to that in every stage race. We are also very ambitious for 2024. I want to win the Tour de France with Jonas and then go to Spain and wear the number one jersey as the defending champion. We want to make cycling history again next season.”