{"id":204567,"date":"2025-10-16T16:33:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/204567\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T16:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:33:13","slug":"remco-evenepoel-wout-van-aert-lead-tributes-as-unsung-hero-of-team-visma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/204567\/","title":{"rendered":"Remco Evenepoel & Wout van Aert lead tributes as unsung hero of Team Visma"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, I can only look back with immense pride at 14 unforgettable years competing at the highest level. I\u2019ve raced against and alongside the best riders in the world,” he adds. “I\u2019ve lived my dream, and I\u2019m deeply grateful for every moment of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMerci mateke\u201d: tributes pour in from across the pelotonWithin minutes of posting his farewell, the comments section filled with tributes from some of the biggest names in Belgian cycling. Wout van Aert<\/a> was among the first to reply \u2014 \u201cThanks, mate.\u201d Remco Evenepoel<\/a> added, \u201cCongratulations on your career, Tosj.\u201dFormer teammates and fellow countrymen Dylan van Baarle, Greg van Avermaet, Olav Kooij and Tim Wellens<\/a> were also quick to salute the popular domestique. Van Baarle wrote: \u201cThanks, mate! You can be proud of an amazing career \u2014 it was a pleasure to race with you.\u201d Van Avermaet called it \u201ca beautiful career \u2014 never stop believing,\u201d while Kooij thanked him \u201cfor everything \u2014 something to be proud of, mate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Wellens, Van der Sande\u2019s long-time friend and former Lotto teammate, added a simple but heartfelt line: \u201cOut of sight, but never out of heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/p>\n

Wellens and Van der Sande were teammates during their Lotto days<\/p>\n

From Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge U23 to Visma road captain<\/p>\n

Van der Sande\u2019s story is one of consistency, selflessness and quiet quality rather than headline-grabbing victories. A former track and U23 standout \u2014 winner of Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge U23 in 2011 \u2014 he turned professional the following year with Lotto-Belisol, remaining loyal to the Belgian squad for a full decade.<\/p>\n

During that time, he built a reputation as a fast finisher and reliable worker, claiming podiums at Paris\u2013Tours (2nd, 2015), the Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem (2nd, 2014), and stages in the Tour de l\u2019Ain and Tour de Wallonie, where he was twice runner-up overall.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Van der Sande joined Jumbo-Visma (now Visma | Lease a Bike), fitting seamlessly into the team\u2019s powerhouse classics and sprint trains. His experience proved invaluable in guiding younger riders such as Olav Kooij, and he remained a trusted presence in the peloton \u2014 a calm, unflappable voice in some of cycling\u2019s most intense races.<\/p>\n

\u201cCycling is not just about data\u201d<\/p>\n

His farewell message closed with a line that resonated deeply within the sport\u2019s data-driven modern era: \u201cOne last message to the next generation of cyclists: live for your sport, but don\u2019t forget to live beyond it. Don\u2019t get lost in the numbers, the watts, or the bike computer. Cycling is not just about data; it\u2019s about instinct, courage, and the love of the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words perfectly capture the ethos that defined Van der Sande\u2019s career \u2014 not one built on algorithms or aero gains, but on loyalty, craft, and the simple joy of racing.<\/p>\n

As Team Visma | Lease a Bike continues to evolve into a super-team of champions, Van der Sande\u2019s departure marks the end of an era for one of the peloton\u2019s true unsung heroes \u2014 a rider whose value was never measured purely in victories, but in trust, teamwork and professionalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee you down the road,\u201d he signed off. A fitting farewell for a man who gave everything to the sport \u2014 and earned universal respect in return.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cStill, I can only look back with immense pride at 14 unforgettable years competing at the highest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-204567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}