Zeeman on tensions at Jumbo-Visma: "It's an illusion to think that nothing ever happens"

Merijn Zeeman is the team manager and sporting director at Jumbo-Visma, the highly successful cycling team that has achieved significant dominance this year. This includes their performance in the Vuelta a España, where the team completely occupied the final podium. The 44-year-old Dutchman was actively involved in this success. Less than 48 hours after officially celebrating their victory in the Tour of Spain with Sepp Kuss, the team held a day of celebration at their Dutch headquarters in Den Bosch. Naturally, Zeeman attended the festivities and also took the time to answer questions from the cycling newsroom, including IDLProCycling.com.

For Jumbo-Visma, the day was not just about discussing budgets and national financial plans for 2024; September 19, 2023, will be remembered primarily as the day when Vuelta winner Kuss was celebrated at the Service Course. This was also the location of the interview with Zeeman, who began by emphasizing that they can indeed describe this season as perfect. With victories from Primoz Roglic in the Giro d'Italia, Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France, and Kuss in the Vuelta, something incredible happened that Zeeman never expected to experience. He expressed that it still feels somewhat surreal, and the realization will gradually sink in over the coming weeks. In a cycling season, things happen so quickly. Shortly after Primoz's Giro win, they were already focusing on the Tour de France.

Managing rock-solid selection is key to continued Jumbo-Visma success, according to Zeeman

"When the season comes to a close, I'll probably truly realize that what we've accomplished is far from ordinary," he continues in a tone of admiration. This year, our primary focus was on the three Grand Tours, although the spring classics held significant importance as well. Naturally, we would have loved to secure victories in the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix," he agrees with the sentiments expressed earlier by fellow team manager Frans Maassen. "However, our ambitions remain as high as ever. It's not as though next year we'll decide to settle for podium finishes only in the Grand Tours. In the Tour de France, we'll once again go all out for the yellow jersey. That's already a certainty."

Read more below the photo!

According to Zeeman, managing a rock-solid selection like that of Jumbo-Visma is the key to continued success. "Certain conflicts naturally always arise in a group of people working together, because you then have to deal with different ideas and ambitions. The question is then, how do you reach a consensus that everyone continues to support? If you put a number of top riders together, it is an illusion to think that nothing will ever happen, in any way," he indirectly refers to the alleged "tensions" between Roglic and Vingegaard, which have received a lot of media attention in recent weeks. "In recent years, we have experienced such things several times, but we have actually always come out of that stronger."

Successful killer bees look to approach other WorldTour teams themselves

"If you want to be dominant in the way we have shown this year, you simply need the best riders in the world first. If you have one leader, along with seven riders who all know they are not good enough for the leaderboard, you will not win three Grand Tours. Then there's even a good chance you won't win a single Grand Tour. After all, cycling nowadays is truly a team sport in our opinion. So you need really good riders who are committed to the team and who also accept that it doesn't matter who wins, as long as it's one of us. That is the common thread in how we approach the sport."

Despite the yellow-black WorldTour team winning almost everything there was to win this season, the staff is going to put their heads together in the coming weeks to evaluate whether the strategies employed were the right ones. "With all the team leaders, performance managers, coaches, and other staff members, we are going to discuss literally everything. A lot went well, but we will also look at what can be improved. After all, there are always areas for improvement," Zeeman reflects. "We won the Giro, Tour, and Vuelta, but did we do that in the best way?" Zeeman wonders aloud. "But, of course, in Spain, it went nicely," he states immediately afterward with a wink. "On the other hand, you always have to leave the door open for room for improvement. If you start believing that your own way is the best way, then decay has already set in. We too look at other teams and what we can learn from them."

Roglic is the undisputed leader of Jumbo-Visma, according to Zeeman

In any case, Zeeman is not particularly concerned that the team management's approach will lead one of the key riders to leave the team. Recently, for example, there were rumors linking Roglic to Lidl-Trek, and even ex-Jumbo-Visma rider Amund Grøndahl Jansen posed that it wouldn't be a crazy idea for the Slovenian former ski jumper to join another team. "To be honest, I'm not overly worried about that. Additionally, we are continually developing talented riders ourselves. Primoz has grown into the undisputed leader of the team with us. In my view, everyone is fully committed to our team, although of course, it's always possible that someone decides to pursue a leadership role elsewhere. If that happens, it will be our responsibility to identify new top talents and groom them for the coming years."

Read more below the photo!

Roglic, as per Zeeman, who is the younger brother of television producer Thijs Zeeman, aspires to join the prestigious list of riders who have won all three grand tours. To achieve this, the 33-year-old classification star only needs to secure victory in the Tour de France. However, that task appears more challenging than it sounds, particularly considering that his teammate Vingegaard has won the last two editions of 'La Grande Boucle' and is eager to claim a third consecutive victory. "I believe it's in Primoz's best interest to strive for a Tour win while wearing the Jumbo-Visma jersey. If he were to leave, he'd potentially have to compete against formidable rivals like Vingegaard or Kuss. Being a teammate to such strong riders is a better position than competing against them," Zeeman remarked.