“I’m very happy with this victory,” Van Kerckhove reflected afterwards. “It was a tough day, but we delivered a really strong performance as a team. In the finale, my teammates did a fantastic job of neutralising the attacks. This truly feels like a team victory.”

In the queen stage of the prestigious French stage race, the Dutch squad once again showed its strength at the front of the race. On the demanding climbs, Van Kerckhove remained attentive and consistently held his place among the leading riders.

In the challenging finale, Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development placed several riders in the group of favourites. Race leader Van Kerckhove was among them. Despite several attempts by his rivals to drop him, the 19-year-old Belgian held firm and secured the overall victory. To cap off an excellent day, he also sprinted to an impressive second place in the stage.

Sports director Sierk Jan de Haan was extremely proud of his team's performance: “We are very happy to have won the general classification. We had to fight hard for it as a team, but the riders did a fantastic job together. It is great to cap off such a wonderful week in this way.”

For the development team of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, it was already the eighth victory of the season. With two stage wins, the overall victory, and success in the points classification, young rider classification and team classification, the Dutch squad can look back on a highly successful Alpes Isère Tour.