Jacco Verhaeren has been a very successful swimming coach for over thirty years. Last year, he joined Visma-Lease a Bike in cycling, giving him an important role in the Tour de France Femmes. Also as a peacemaker.
On a large parking lot at the Futuroscope theme park, Verhaeren, together with Visma team leader Jos van Emden and FDJ-SUEZ team boss Stephen Delcourt, seeks a quiet spot between the team buses on Wednesday afternoon. The trio has something to discuss after the harsh words back and forth.
Delcourt said on Monday after a crash of his leader Demi Vollering that there was “a lack of respect” in the peloton. Van Emden called that “really ridiculous” a day later. Verhaeren takes the initiative to clear the air before the fifth stage of the Tour.
A role as a peacemaker is not why Visma-Lease a Bike included Verhaeren in the management team last year. But the ‘head of coaching’ of the Dutch cycling team is eminently suitable for putting out this fire because of his years of experience in the highest regions of top sport.
“It was a good conversation,” says the 56-year-old from Brabant after the approximately twenty-minute meeting with Van Emden and Delcourt. He doesn’t want to say much more about it. It is clear: Verhaeren wants his team’s focus to return to the race. And not on a war of words.
Few Dutch people have supervised as many Olympic champions as Verhaeren in recent decades. In the Netherlands, he coached Inge de Bruijn, Pieter van den Hoogenband and Ranomi Kromowidjojo to swimming gold. After that, he was also successful in Australia and France.
After the 2024 Games in Paris, Verhaeren returned to the Netherlands and found a challenge in a new sport: cycling. Visma-Lease a Bike was looking for a successor to sporting director Merijn Zeeman, who left for AZ, and divided his tasks among five managers. Verhaeren became the head coach.
“Cycling and swimming are two totally different sports. But in working with the coaches and athletes, I don’t see many differences,” Verhaeren tells NU.nl. “I think it’s great to find out whether the principles and philosophies that I have built up over 35 years of top sport can also land here.”
Verhaeren has a “supporting role” with the Visma men’s team. For example, he was involved in the Tour preparation that resulted in a second place for leader Jonas Vingegaard. He has been given a leading role in the women’s team from the start.
“That team has existed for much less time than the men’s team. With the women, there is a project that is relatively still in its infancy. That made it easier for me to get involved.”
During the Tour, Verhaeren tries to find as much time as possible to watch the World Long Course Swimming Championships, which are currently taking place in Singapore. He also works at the KNZB swimming association as a so-called ‘performance strategist’. But his priority is no longer with the sport that made him a top coach.
“I will always continue to follow swimming,” says Verhaeren. “But I am now much more distant. I watch the World Championships as a fan.” Laughing: “Everyone has a hobby, and that’s mine.”
His daily work these weeks revolves around two other Olympic champions – Marianne Vos and the Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot – and how they can make this Tour as successful as possible for Visma-Lease a Bike. Vos has already won a stage and wore the yellow jersey for three days. Ferrand-Prévot is second in the general classification.
Don’t expect Verhaeren to tell the riders what to do during the race. That is what the team leaders are for. “In my role, it is really about the development of the coaches and the riders,” he says. “And I also participate in discussions on a subject such as team dynamics.”
For example, Verhaeren has introduced that every race of the women’s team is collectively evaluated, usually two days after the race. “That happens online, because everyone is spread out. But it is important that we come together and review what we have done well and not well. And what we have learned.”
In that light, it is not surprising that Verhaeren initiated the peace talks between Visma and FDJ on Wednesday. “Ultimately, I mainly have to support the team’s processes,” he says. “So that the decision-making process goes as smoothly as possible.”