Faces of La Vuelta: Jumbo Visma's mechanic.

At only 33 years-old, Sem Versteeg, the mechanic of Team Jumbo-Visma, has a very important background of experience. This 2019 Vuelta represents his 6th GT as team mechanic, the first one it could win with Primoz Roglic.

How many days are you away from home during a year? 
Around 170 'race days' a year from Australia to the USA.

Tell us your typical day at Vuelta a Espana.
Mostly, the start is a bit later then we are used to, so we can sleep a little bit longer.  Normally, we wake up, check the tires and put all the bikes on the car. During the stage I will be in one of the two team cars. After the stage, we provide Tacx trainers for the cooling down. Once we are at our hotel, we will start cleaning and prepare the bikes for the next stage.

Who has been the best champion you have worked with in your career? 
Of course, Tom Dumoulin, who’ll join the Jumbo-Visma team in 2020. 

How many Grand Tours (Giro D’Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana) did you follow in your career?       
The 2019 represents my 6th GT: 2 editions of Giro D’Italia (2017,2018), 1 Tour de France (2019), 3 Vuelta a Espana (2017,2018,2019).

Tell us an anecdote of your career? 
In this year's Tour de France. The big goal of the team was to win the first stage in Brussels and then take the yellow jersey. Just went a little bit different than planned, unfortunately Dylan fell, and we thought everything was done until suddenly the course radio came over that Mike Teunissen had won the sprint and took the yellow.

Who are the most careful riders at Vuelta Espana in your team? 
For sure, Primoz Roglic. He is always searching for marginal gains.