Campenaerts on suffering uphill for the team: ‘It feels like putting your head in a bucket of water’
Victor Campenaerts is well known for being the bearer of pain to many in the peloton for the sheer amount of tireless work he does riding at the front of the bunch. The Belgian featured on the Domestique Hotseat and explained how he is able to maintain his focus and discipline when performing his team duties, and the importance of his teammates, old and new.
Speaking about the experience of riding at the front of the peloton, Campenaerts referenced a striking metaphor he once heard from a Bradley Wiggins documentary. "He [Wiggins] described riding uphill like you put your head in a bucket of water and it doesn't take so long before all you want to do is just get your head out of the bucket of water and just breathe," said Campenaerts in the Domestique Hotseat Podcast.
"That's a bit how climbing feels. But imagine you're next to somebody and he also puts his head in his bucket of water. But you know, you just know, or you are convinced he will hold his breath longer than I. Yeah, then you don't even try," added Campenaerts.
Mentality plays a crucial role in determining how deep a rider can dig, according to the Belgian. "Once you get that confidence, you can dig so deep. It's a mental game in how you approach the pain of riding uphill, and once you are confident that you know, I can handle the pain."
For flat terrain, Campenaerts highlighted the value in the skill of being a teammate who can ride at the front of the peloton, taking the brunt of the wind and protecting their team leader. "When it's flat roads, hectic, you need to be in position, and you need like a truck that always is with his nose in the wind in the front and doesn't give away the position on the first line. It's a very tough job," said Campenaerts, before naming teammate Eduardo Afini as "the most reliable guy" for this role.
Campenaerts also shared his thoughts on the Lotto-Intermarché merger, expressing concern about its wider impact on the sport during the formation process, leaving many in the sport in limbo about their futures.
Among those impacted are many of Campenaerts’s former teammates and colleagues as the Belgian spent five seasons with Lotto over two spells, leaving for Visma | Lease a Bike in 2025.
"It's never nice when a team is closing down, it's just not good for cycling in general because there it's riders losing their job. It's staff members losing their jobs. It's management losing their jobs," he said.
"If you do the Tour together with somebody in your team, you have a lifetime bond with that person," he noted, referencing his former teammate Jared Drizners, who fortunately secured a spot with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe for 2026 after initially facing uncertainty regarding his future.
“He [Drizners] contacted me in October. I talked to Grischa [Niermann], but I knew those spots were already filled in our team, and I couldn’t help him. I’m just so happy he found the spot [at Red Bull],” said Campenaerts.
Not everyone has been as fortunate, however. "It's people, of course, that I know quite closely who are just left to fall out of cycling. And that's not nice, of course," Campenaerts added, while expressing cautious hope for the merged entity, "I hope it brings good stuff, the fusion for them. We'll see."
Watch the full episode with Victor Campenaerts in the Domestique Hotseat 👇
