Armstrong, Wiggins & Bruyneel clash over Visma's Tour de France tactics: "How many stage wins are enough to avoid calling it a failure?”

Stage 10 of the 2025 Tour de France delivered another spectacular chapter in this year’s race, with Simon Yates seizing a memorable stage victory, Tadej Pogacar surrendering the yellow jersey, and Ben Healy emerging as the new overall leader. But behind the headlines, questions are swirling over UAE Team Emirates - XRG’s strategy—particularly after a day when Pogačar was left exposed, isolated, and ultimately dethroned.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike once again turned the screw on UAE and Pogačar, managing to distance his key support riders for significant stretches of the stage. Yet despite this success, Jonas Vingegaard refrained from launching a decisive move himself, perhaps keeping his powder dry for the mountains to come.

The fallout from the stage was front and centre on The Move podcast, hosted by Lance Armstrong and featuring George Hincapie, Bradley Wiggins, Spencer Martin, and Johan Bruyneel. It was the latter — former directeur sportif at US Postal — who didn’t hold back in his critique of UAE’s approach.

“I think UAE were pushing far too hard,” Bruyneel said. “I would’ve let it go. There was no reason to keep pulling. Even if Ben Healy had taken yellow with a five or even ten-minute lead, that would’ve made the next few stages easier for them. Instead, they rode aggressively and lost the jersey by a small margin. In my view, they overcooked it and Pogačar ended up isolated as a result.”

Bruyneel went further, suggesting that deliberately relinquishing yellow could have worked in UAE’s favour: “If they’d let Healy go ten minutes up the road, it would’ve been ideal. EF Education would’ve had to take responsibility over the next few stages, including at Hautacam. Even if Healy didn’t ship all the time back right away, EF would still be doing the work.”

While Wout van Aert’s absence continues to shape Visma’s tactics, George Hincapie praised the Dutch squad for what he saw as a psychologically significant day: “Mentally it was a huge win for them,” he said. “Sepp Kuss was brilliant, Jorgenson was phenomenal, and they got the stage win. That’ll boost morale.”

Bruyneel agreed that Visma’s ability to isolate Pogačar could prove critical as the race progresses: “They’ve shown they can distance him from his team. They’ll be looking to do that again soon.”

But not everyone on the panel was convinced. Bradley Wiggins expressed frustration with Visma’s tactical cohesion—or lack thereof: “They’re the strongest team in the race, and they’ve made it clear since Stage 1 in Lille that they’re here to race aggressively,” said Wiggins. “But I don’t think they’re using their strength wisely. Stage 10 felt disorganised to me. Yes, they won the stage, which relieves some pressure, but if they don’t win the Tour, how many stage wins are enough to avoid calling it a failure?”

Armstrong, meanwhile, believes the race is steadily boiling down to a familiar duel. “It’s going to be a one-on-one,” he said. “Watch Pogačar’s acceleration in the final kilometre—seated, explosive, like he was changing the channel on Netflix. There’s only one rider in the peloton who knows what it takes to follow that: Jonas. He’s the one who matters. He’s the one who’ll decide whether Visma wins the Tour or just ends up on the podium.”

Bruyneel echoed that sentiment, casting doubt on anyone else’s ability to truly threaten Pogačar: “The only rider from Visma who can really trouble him is Jorgenson. Kuss and Yates can’t do it. The danger is if Pogačar gets isolated and something goes wrong—a puncture, or needing to fetch bottles in the high mountains. Strategically, that’s more of a concern than strength. Because in terms of raw power, no one touches him.”

Adding an intriguing technical detail, Spencer Martin noted that Pogačar may not have taken Stage 10 quite as seriously as it appeared: “He was riding his heavier bike—not the lighter climbing version. And no disrespect to Colnago, but independent testing has suggested it’s the worst-performing bike in the WorldTour.”

With the Pyrenees looming and the race for yellow heating up, the tactical margins continue to tighten. Whether UAE will regret the decision to defend their lead so aggressively remains to be seen—but in a Tour where every move counts, even a single day’s strategy can shape the final podium.