Vuelta a España team time trial victory ‘not a realistic goal’ for Visma-Lease a Bike following Axel Zingle’s abandon

Visma-Lease a Bike head into the Vuelta a España stage 5 team time trial on Wednesday afternoon with ambitions of putting their leader Jonas Vingegaard back into the red jersey of race leader.

However, the Dutch squad have played down their hopes of scoring a victory in Figueres as they start the 24km stage down a rider following Axel Zingle‘s withdrawal ahead of stage 3.

Speaking to In de Leidestrui, Visma-Lease a Bike coach Mathieu Heijboer said that the loss of Zingle will make it hard for them to come out on top in Figueres.

“That’s a huge loss, especially because Axel is a very strong rider who was also crucial in Paris-Nice,” Heijboer said of Zingle, who played a role in their TTT win at the WorldTour stage race back in March.

“Just calculate how much you lose if you suddenly have to start with seven riders instead of eight. It is what it is, though, and we’re still confident we have a good team. We’re going for it.”

Heijboer said that another TTT victory is not realistic with only seven riders, though gaps at the top of the standings shouldn’t be too large.

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“I don’t expect the gap between the top teams to be much more than half a minute or so,” he said. “We’re definitely at a disadvantage now, having a man down.

“There was a real desire in the group to go for the win, but I don’t think that’s a realistic goal anymore with Axel’s loss. The level will be very high, with all the top teams well-prepared and equipped.”

The team heads into the stage with Vingegaard lying second overall, level on time with race leader David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). 23 other riders are lying within 30 seconds of the red jersey, including third-placed Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), and fourth-placed Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

Heijboer admitted that his team has only been able to invest “limited” time in practising for the discipline, saying that the riders have been focussed on the first four road stages.

He’ll look to Vingegaard as well as super-domestique Matteo Jorgenson and time trial specialist Victor Campenaerts to shoulder the load out on the course.

“The riders focused on stages 1 through 4 in the first few days, and I’ve been working on that time trial in the background. That won’t be the case for the group until Wednesday,” Heijboer said.

“Ultimately, Jonas can’t go faster than he can, but it’s true that, especially in the second half of the time trial, the stronger riders often pull the load. That’s when things get more consistent when they’re in the lead.

“That’s why I expect a lot from Campenaerts and Jorgenson on a flat course, as they have a lot of absolute power. And Jonas will definitely hold his own.”

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