• Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 12:54 PM
Special No Sepp Kuss in the Tour de France 2024. The winner of the Vuelta a España recently had to deal with a corona infection and did not get fit in time for The large loop. The 28-year-old Dutchman Bart Lemmen replaces him. Two years ago he decided to switch gears and set his sights on a cycling career. Who is he? CyclingFlits outlines his striking timeline.
The first time Bart Lemmen’s name appears in the WielerFlits archive is on Sunday, May 30, 2021. Shortly before that, he finished fifth during the qualifying moment for the National Time Trial Championships in the second corona year. Lemmen then finishes fifth, well behind winner Brian Megens and, for example, Elmar Reinders. That year he combined his full-time job as an officer in the Air Force with discovering cycling in West Frisia. He goes like a rocket and secures final victory in the Top Competition at the end of the year.
A special turn followed, because Lemmen was already 26 years old at that time. That is quite late for a cyclist. Yet VolkerWessels dared to do it with the Utrechter. He again did well for Allard Engels’ Continental team in the Top Competition, but also in various (semi-) professional races. For example, Lemmen finished fourth at the National Road Championships on the VAM mountain, fifth in Kreiz Breizh Elites (with a stage win) and seventh in the Tour of Slovakia. He still worked 32 hours a week as an officer in the Air Force, but he developed very quickly. Successfully.
Lemmen decided to quit his job in the Air Force in the winter of 2022 or 2023 and make his professional debut at the age of 27 with the American ProTeam Human Powered Health. He proved that this step also did him no harm, in the Spanish stage race O Gran Camiño. In the final time trial he only had to leave Jonas Vingegaard, Rohan Dennis and Will Barta. At that moment he doesn’t know yet what type of rider he is, but he holds his own uphill and is also doing well in a time trial. Later in the season the professional gets better and better.
There was only one problem: the men’s side of the American team was quitting at the end of 2023. Did Lemmen’s dream shatter before it had even started? No. The ex-soldier had already almost completed his deal with the Swiss Q36.5 Pro Cycling. But after Nathan Van Hooydonck had to stop racing due to cardiac arrest in September, Visma | Lease a Bike is looking for an extra rider for 2024. There were no options left this late in the season, but they soon ended up with Lemmen. They got out of there quickly.
The fact that the Dutch WorldTeam just finished at Lemmen fits well with their strategy. In the past, sporting director Merijn Zeeman has often worked with riders with a special story. Think of Primož Roglič, Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard. “Bart has only just started practicing cycling as a top sport. Before that, he had intensive military training and combined cycling with a tough job in defense,” Zeeman said about Lemmen’s transfer. Internally they saw in him the potential of a future member of their Tour team.
Within the staff it was said about the Utrechter that he could turn into a big surprise. And look here, just nine months later. Due to the many injuries and illnesses, Lemmen was the last to be added to the eight-member inspection corps of Visma | Lease a Bike for the Tour de France 2024. A year earlier than planned perhaps, but that does not make Lemmen’s story any less beautiful. From an officer in the Air Force to the Tour de France within just over a year and a half. In the hunt for yellow, he must camouflage the problems of one of the world’s best teams.
2024-06-25 10:54:00
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