Jumbo Visma's decision to send Tom Dumoulin, Primoz Roglic, and Steven Kruijswijk to the Tour de France, and the eight-race roster announced at the same time, took many by surprise, but lead coach Melaine Zeman is confident that the payoff will be greater than the risk The payoff is greater than the risk, he is convinced.

The Dutch team announced its full Tour de France squad in late December, giving all three Grand Tour leaders slots, along with Tony Martin, Sepp Kuss, Laurens de Plus, Wout Van Aert, and Robert Gesink.

There was no room for sprinter Dylan Groenewegen and his leadout, and George Bennett was given a chance to compete in the Giro d'Italia and the Olympics. putting all your GC eggs in one basket is not a typical World Tour team tactic. It is not. Team Ineos and Movistar have tried this to varying degrees in recent years, but 2020 will be the first time Jumbo Visma will employ this method.

"Of course, there was talk of sending one of the three leaders to the Giro and one or two to the Tour de France, but the analysis that won the Vuelta showed that if we want to win the biggest race in the world, we need to bring the best," Zeman said of the Tour lineup Zeman told Cycling News shortly before the Tour lineup was announced.

"If you think about compromising, it's a risk. Ineos has won many times in the last few years. So it is naïve to think we can beat them with a weaker team. They are the absolute favorite to win the championship, but we want to really compete with them. That means that only one of our riders can win, but after so many years, what matters is that another team's rider is on the top of the podium. Primoz, Tom and Steven understand that."

Only time will tell if Jumbo Visma's strategy will succeed, but for Zeman and his staff, the most important aspects that will determine success or failure are clarity and communication. By announcing the Tour lineup months in advance, management instills a sense of belief in the riders as well as a sense of responsibility. While some may argue that this takes away from the motivation and drive of the riders who are about to compete in the Tour, Zeman has spent months making sure that every rider on the team is aware of their purpose.

The plan for 2020 was formulated several months ago, shortly after Tom Dumoulin decided to join Jumbo-Visma and the curtain closed on the 2019 World Tour. Jumbo-Visma management began drafting a Grand Tour roster that summarized each step of the plan and accelerated the team's goals following a series of meetings in late October in advance of the "Captains' Dinner."

"It was a pretty intense process. Right after the end of the season, we started working on the plan for 2020," Zeman said.

"We had a team day where we announced the new riders and staff at the internal level, with China being the last race. At that point, we also set the team's ultimate goal and long-term objectives. Then, after that weekend, three days of intensive evaluation took place. Everyone shared their opinions and analyzed every part of the season, including the classics, the Giro, and the Tour. Each rider was assigned two coaches who interviewed them about their thoughts on the year. We received feedback, the coaches gave their opinions, and then presented that information to the rest of us.

"We examined our qualities and areas for improvement, and from there we developed ideas with Richard Plagge and a small group of people to create a concept for our 2020 goal. If the goal was to win the Tour de France, we thought about what it would take to do that and what it would take to get there. In our coaching analysis, we looked at what it took to win a Grand Tour for the past five years. We examined the type of riders needed, the tactics used, and how important time trials were. That gave us direction."

The captains' dinner was attended by the three Tour leaders, Van Aert, and Groenewegen. The team was trying to put together the best GC team possible, and while Groenewegen's possible participation in the Tour might have been a touchy issue, the team had many other goals and wanted the Dutchman to win stages in multiple Grand Tours, so the team got off easy.

"As for the Tour, we discussed with Groenewegen whether we would use him. Then we looked at the Giro route and quickly came up with the idea of taking him in a different direction, with the Vuelta starting in the Netherlands," Zeman said.

"We had a captains meeting with all the leaders in October. After that we had a dinner meeting with the captains in Holland. We didn't talk about strategy, but we did ask them all a few questions. Dylan was very clear that he wanted to win as many races as possible by the end of his career, but he also wanted to win stages in all three Grand Tours. It was a pivotal moment for the idea of taking him to another Grand Tour for a new challenge."

Few would dispute Jumbo-Visma's depth and talent in the Tour de France, but the key will be to ensure that their leaders sing from the same hymn book and avoid the ruinous but enjoyable togetherness that Movistar displayed in the previous season would avoid the disintegration that Movistar had exhibited in the previous season.

Zeman is convinced by the positive attitude of the riders so far and the fact that they have all embraced the idea of group unity.

"It's a really interesting and challenging process. We want to create team dynamics so that everyone on the team is working toward the same goal. We will go step-by-step, but we have already had many meetings together and individually so that we can create the dream.

"The ultimate dream is to win the Tour, and a few years ago we didn't think we could get there, but every year the dream gets closer. But if you ultimately want to win the Tour, you need a team with power and depth when there are only six guys left.

"The most important thing is to win, and to try to win as a team. Every rider must be committed to the team's goals. Everyone is enthusiastic and passionate; at the camp in Girona in December, the atmosphere in the camp was relaxed and friendly, even though the riders and staff were constantly involved in meetings and briefings."

"The team has been working hard to improve the team's performance, and we are very happy with the results.

At this point, it is difficult to imagine the leadership structure in July without pedaling in anger. Dumoulin and Roglic enter the season as Grand Tour winners, but with the Dutchman having no competition in 2019 and Roglic winning the Vuelta a España, the Slovenian has the early advantage.

"What is important for us is to win as a team. It is either Roglic, Kruijswijk, or Dumoulin," Zeeman said.

"At the start of the season we will see how they are doing from the beginning, Primosch was the number one rider in the world in 2019. He won so many races and stages. Steve and Tom will tell you that he is a little bit better than them right now, but that doesn't mean we will only play his card. We play all three cards."