It is unusual to see a team still happy and positive after they have – for the ‘nth’ day in a row – failed to crack the rider who just keeps beating them. But that’s exactly how you found Visma-Lease a Bike on top of Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France.
The team of two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard put in a stellar effort on the Ventoux, pacing hard, isolating yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and delivering not one but two satellite riders for the Dane in the finale, who said he felt good all day.
But still, they were beaten. Pogačar couldn’t be shaken, and – as he does – he outsprinted Vingegaard to the line, taking another two seconds and indeed a new Ventoux record.
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However, instead of talking about defeat or disappointment, Visma were, perhaps weirdly or perhaps understandably, still positive at the top.
That’s because there’s a sense that they can really only do their best in the face of a generational rider, and after a few days of the plan not quite working out, it did on Tuesday, so if they’re beaten, they’re beaten.
“In a way it’s a nice or interesting position to be in, because there’s already a decent margin, so we really have nothing to lose by trying,” Sepp Kuss explained at the finish. “We can really go down swinging and try at every moment.”
For Kuss’ teammate Tiesj Benoot, who was the first satellite rider to rejoin Vingegaard from the break, it was a plan well-executed, even if it didn’t work.
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“We wanted to put pressure on Pogačar of course,” he said. “It was good that we had two guys in the break, so I could wait until Simon [Yates] and Sepp were done, then on my turn Jonas went again and I think Victor [Campenaerts] was straight there.
“We did our best today, with the headwind after Chalet Reynard we knew he would need a teammate – it was a big advantage to have a teammate. We succeeded in the plan, and two more Alps stages to go.”
The only thing that didn’t go quite to plan was that Vingegaard actually attacked earlier than first intended.
“Initially, we wanted to try to ride to within 1.5km of the summit, because from there it gets steeper again,” Victor Campenaerts explained to Sporza. “But Jonas told me he wanted to go earlier so Tadej couldn’t recover. It looked really impressive.”
Benoot echoed the feeling of taking positives from Vingegaard’s ride, as counterintuitive as that may seem in a normal racing situation.
“I didn’t talk to Jonas yet, but he looked really good” he said. “It was also impressed after I did my turn that he could still accelerate.
“But anyway it’s crazy how fast they go. So I think we gave the people at home a battle again today and a nice stage to watch.
All in all, Vingegaard did look strong, as did the whole Visma operation, but like before in this race, it just wasn’t enough. But when you’re being beaten every day, even at your best, there is only so much disappointment and defeatism you can muster.
Visma know that to win this race is going to be a tough ask, but as Kuss put it, they are clearly going to go down swinging, and they’re right that they can take things from this performance on Ventoux. It may not have been enough – it may never be enough – but it’s clear that Visma are going to do all they can in the remaining stages, even if that means throwing what they have away.
“It’s an interesting position to be in, because we really have nothing to lose,” Kuss added. “Jonas doesn’t care if he loses more time, or if he loses a place in the GC. We don’t know exactly where we’ll attack, but at least just with the mindset that there’s nothing to lose, and that makes it motivating for the rest of us to give it everything and not end the Tour with any regrets.
“In the end we just want to have fun racing and go for it and think outside the box when it’s possible. I think the most important thing is that Jonas feels good and then with that we can do a lot of interesting things.”
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