Team Visma | Lease a Bike has several long-term veterans in the team, many of them climbers. Whilst the level increases by the year, Wilco Kelderman continues to be competitive throughout the generations and although he is fully on a domestique role currently, he continues to have the motivation at age 34 and he believes the Tour de France is a race that brings him motivation like no other.But thoughts of retirement do exist in the distance for the Dutchman. “Maybe I’ll continue for another year after 2027, but we’ll have to wait and see,” Kelderman shared with Wielerflits. “My family is at home, my daughters are growing up. Sometimes, going to training camps and competitions at high altitude is a bit difficult. But my motivation remains intact”.
Kelderman adapted well to his new role, after many years as one of Visma’s leaders. In 2013 he was already riding alongside the best in the world, at a point in time where it wasn’t common for a rider of such young age to do so. He has suffered many injuries and illnesses during his career however, but has continued to perform and perhaps his best season was in 2020 in which he finished on the Top10 of every single stage-race he started and then went on to finish third at the Giro d’Italia where he even led te race in the final week.
“The desire to train hard and do everything to be at the front of the race is the same. As long as that remains, I’ll continue. But there’s a tipping point in everyone’s career where factors like family and physical fitness make cycling less enjoyable, and you’re done.”
Tour de France back on his schedule?
It’s quite hard to make it into Visma’s Tour de France block, a highly competitive team who has for several years now almost fully put its focus on the Grand Boucle. He’s raced it six times, out of 19 Grand Tour participations, but this year has instead raced the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España where he assisted Simon Yates and Jonas Vingegaard to overall success. Kelderman continues to be an experienced figure and quality climber that aids significantly towards these goals.
But he does want the Tour, specially after he proved in recent years he’s still got the legs to perform there. “I really enjoyed it in 2023 and 2024. I’ve noticed that having a plan to win the Tour or to dominate a race makes me stronger. If I’m performing well, I can be useful in the upcoming races. I’m curious to see what plan the team will come up with.”
And collective success is what lays in his mind above all, despite him still not having a World Tour win to his name and not taking the top step of the podium for over 10 years now. “I appreciate the team’s successes and I’m very happy to be able to train hard every day. I don’t regret any choices in my career, nor do I feel like I’ve missed any opportunities by riding for others.”
Wilco Kelderman during 2025. @Sirotti