Jumbo Visma's performance coach and the only coach Wout van Aert has ever had, Marc Lamberts, may have only just exited Jumbo Visma but the Dutch team has wasted no time in recruiting fresh coaching talent.
And it has decided to follow the example of Ineos Grenadiers in recruiting a coach from outside the sport of cycling but comes from swimming instead. A similar move by Ineos Grenadiers, when it was Team Sky, in hiring swimming coach Tim Kerrison was credited as being instrumental in the performance and nutrition gains its riders made.
Jumbo Visma's new man coached several Dutch swimmers, including Pieter van den Hoogenband, Inge de Bruijn, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo, to Olympic gold medals. He was also previously the central figure coaching the Australian national swimming team.
Jumbo Visma is hoping Jacco Verhaeren - now the national coach of the French swimming team - will continue to give it the edge as it seeks to evolve and improve to stay ahead of its rivals.
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The performance staff has also been boosted with the arrival of Norwegian Espen Aareskjold, from Uno X Pro Cycling. He has already played a role in coaching some of Jumbo Visma's young Norwegians, including top U23 rider, who steps up to the World Tour set-up next season.
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Merijn Zeeman, Jumbo Visma's sportive director, said he was very happy to secure the services of both men, especially as the team knew it had to keep moving forward and would fall behind its rivals unless it continued to evolve.
"Over the past few years, I have often exchanged ideas with Jacco", Zeeman said. "After our best season, we have to keep looking for improvements and new insights. Together with Mathieu Heijboer, I have come to the conclusion that Jacco can provide us with these new ideas and different insights from another sport. We will start with a modest collaboration and hopefully develop it into something more."
Verhaeren said he was looking forward to sharing his knowledge with Jumbo Visma, and also learning from the cycling team. He will, for now, combined his role at Jumbo Visma with his continued commitments in French swimming.
"I want to get to know cycling better and will provide my input on performance processes and training, among other things," he said. "I am happy to shed some light on the current performance approach of Team Jumbo-Visma. It is great to think along with the most successful cycling team.
"I do this from a swimming perspective. What Team Jumbo-Visma does with my advice is up to them. I like to immerse myself in Team Jumbo-Visma's approach because I can benefit from it. The link between equipment, nutrition, training and race strategy is fascinating. It inspires me a lot."
