Updated July 11, 2026 11:31AM
Despite headlines proclaiming that this Tour de France is over, no one’s waving the white flag at Visma-Lease a Bike.
The mood around the Visma bus was lighter than what you might expect after Jonas Vingegaard received a drubbing at the hands of Tadej Pogačar in the Pyrénées.
Ahead of Saturday’s sprint stage, riders were smiling and staffers kept the mood loose.
“If I would throw in the towel like that I would not be a good DS,” Visma sport director Marc Reef said. “We will look for every chance all the way to Paris.”
Of course, that’s what he has to say.
Pogačar blew the race apart on the Col du Tourmalet on Thursday, and two days later, everyone is still trying to make sense of the wreckage.
The Slovenian put 2:38 into Vingegaard on the Tour’s first major mountain stage. That was already more than half of his entire winning margin from last year’s Tour.
With UAE Emirates-XRG packing firepower, including third-placed Isaac del Toro, clawing back that deficit won’t be easy for Visma or anyone else.
Yet with two full weeks left, the Dutch team insists this Tour is far from over.
Believing the Alps will favor Vingegaard
Vingegaard is consoled by Vilsma after losing nearly three minutes in stage 6 to Pogačar. (Photo: Getty Images)
Things can change fast in the Tour de France.
Less than a week ago, Visma was celebrating yellow in Barcelona and believing everything was possible.
Now that Pogačar has grabbed the race by the throat, Vingegaard is back chasing his wheel again.
Reef said Vingegaard’s power numbers did not reveal a broken rider.
Reef pointed out that Vingegaard was only about 30 seconds behind Pogačar at the top of the Tourmalet before the elastic snapped.
Clutching at straws? Maybe, but the team isn’t going to give up after only one summit finale.
“The Tour is still two weeks. We have a lot to fight for,” Reef said. “It’s ‘only’ 2:40, he lost it in one day and we can gain it in one day. That’s something we believe in.”
That’s good for the sound bites for the journalist mob, but doing it on the road is something else.
Pogačar hasn’t lost time to a direct GC Tour rival since his defeats to Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023. Since then, he’s been almost untouchable.
Colorado climber Sepp Kuss said Visma’s best option is to stay patient and wait for the right opportunity.
“You can never say it’s over until the bitter end,” Kuss told Velo. “The biggest stages are still to come. You don’t want that kind of deficit but we can hope for a big moment at some point. That’s what we’re focused on.”
Visma’s plan Thursday to slip a teammate into the break so Vingegaard would have support later in the stage backfired.
That’s the role Wout van Aert played so heroically in the past, but the Belgian is watching this Tour from home.
UAE shut down the early moves, drilled the pace on the Tourmalet, and rolled out the red carpet for Pogačar’s attack.
Hope springs eternal at the Tour de France
Kuss celebrates the Visma team victory in Barcelona and was the best-placed in the Pyrénées. (Photo: JASPER JACOBS / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images)
Vingegaard looked beaten at the line at Gavarnie on Thursday, but the team has since rallied around its leader.
“It’s not so demoralizing, because everyone knows how strong Pogačar is and he is the big favorite for the Tour,” Kuss said. “We just have to focus on the fact that Jonas was not right there with him, but he was decently close.
“For Jonas there are better stages coming and the Tour’s second half will suit him better.”
Kuss believes this back-loaded Tour route still offers opportunities for a reversal of fortune.
Visma continues to search for the cracks that Pogačar has sometimes shown late in previous Tours.
“You see how strong UAE is, with two guys, with Pogačar and Del Toro, and there are not many guys who can follow them,” Kuss said. “It’s more about being creative to use our strength. You have to think outside the box a bit.”
Visma arrived in Barcelona convinced Vingegaard — fresh off his Giro d’Italia victory — finally had the form to match, and perhaps even beat, Pogačar.
Thursday’s defeat was a brutal reality check few inside the team expected to see.
“Our strategy hasn’t changed and the big stages where the big differences are going to be made are still coming,” Reef said.
“The most important thing is that we stay calm, we keep the spirit high, and that we fight for every second.”
Of course, Pogačar could crash, fall ill, or simply have a bad day.
The Killer Bees insist they’re still packing plenty of sting.
They better hope so.