"Both Jonas and Wout did really well" - Visma | Lease a Bike survive opening stage of Tour without major troubles

Visma | Lease a Bike had a solid opening day at the Tour de France. Jonas Vingegaard survived the first racing test without any issue, Wout Van Aert narrowly missed out on the victory behind the leading duo and thus the only downside of the day was the unnecessary crash in a downhill for Wilco Kelderman.

"I think it was a good day," sports director Merijn Zeeman tells WielerFlits. "Both Jonas and Wout did really well. That makes it a nice and good day. Wilco had to get on the bus with abrasions, which is a bit worse of course. He slipped on road dirt in a descent."

Zeeman saw two strong DSM-firmenich PostNL riders blazing to the stage victory. "Those two rode very well, so I think most viewers at home would rather have the attackers make it than have the peloton close it down. We would have preferred to win, it would have been a very nice reward for Wout after everything that happened," the sports director refers to Van Aert's injuries from Dwars doors Vlaanderen.

Beforehand, there were doubts here and there about the physical readiness of Van Aert and Vingegaard after their long rehabilitations, not least among the two riders themselves. "I am glad that today is behind us," says a relieved Zeeman about that. "You could tell that everyone was tense, including myself."