Bruyneel & Wiggins praise Visma tactics at start of 2025 Tour de France: "Stronger and more organised than UAE right now"

The opening stages of the 2025 Tour de France has already given plenty for the experts and analysts to mull over. For Johan Bruyneel and Sir Bradley Wiggins on the latest episode of The Move podcast, topic of the rivalry between UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Team Visma | Lease a Bike was discussed.

Visma have undoubtedly been the most attacking of the two teams so far, but according to Wiggins, that could prove costly later on in the race. “They're already burning through a lot of energy,” noted the 2012 Tour winner. “We saw Tiesj Benoot deliver a Poggio-style lead-out on that climb. Victor Campenaerts did something similar today. Everyone's talking about the big names like Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, but it’s the domestiques who'll prove crucial later in the race.”

Bruyneel however, is incredibly impressed by Visma's start to the Tour, and unlike Wiggins, actually believes the team are using their domestiques wisely. “What I’ve noticed with Team Visma | Lease a Bike — and maybe this is just my opinion — is that they look a bit stronger and more organised than UAE right now,” says the Belgian. “If you look closely, you’ll see the whole team around Jonas. But there’s no sign of Sepp Kuss or Simon Yates — they’re conserving energy.”

As you might expect, Jonas Vingegaard has been front and centre of all the attacking racing by Visma over the first two stages. “Jonas looked really good today," Wiggins says of the Dane after stage 2. "A bit over-excited perhaps — we saw him attacking on that descent, which probably wasn’t necessary.”

“It was also a way to stay up front and out of trouble," Bruyneel adds. "If the race stretches into a line like that, you’re less likely to get caught behind. In the sprint, we kind of expected him to lose the wheel — he can’t hold Mathieu’s wheel, and Tadej is so explosive too.”

Whilst Pogacar has been the match of Vingegaard and Visma so far, not all the GC contenders can say the same. “Carlos Rodriguez is INEOS' GC hope, but he’s not at the level we expected," says Wiggins. "Yes, he had that crash earlier this year and a complicated collarbone fracture that took time to heal — but still, he lost more time today.”

“Remco Evenepoel was much better today than yesterday. His team looked after him too. I get the sense that they were caught napping on stage one," Bruyneel adds. "But today, he was right where he needed to be. On the steepest climb, it was Van der Poel and the GC contenders — and no one else.”

Winning stage 2 and taking the Maillot Jaune though, there was no doubt that Mathieu van der Poel was the star of the day. “Van der Poel looked incredibly strong on that climb. I think he’s in the best form we’ve ever seen from him at the Tour," analyses Wiggins. "I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he wins another stage this week.”

Bruyneel meanwhile, praises the Alpecin-Deceuninck team as a whole. “Credit to Christoph and Philip Roodhooft — especially when you consider where they’ve come from," he says. "Budget-wise, they’re well down the list. They’re not even in the top five richest teams. What they’re achieving is phenomenal.”

And it could get even better too. With a bunch sprint expected on stage 3, Jasper Philipsen has the chance to make it three stage wins on the bounce for Alpecin-Deceuninck at the start of the 2025 Tour de France. “That would be something else — and it’s not impossible," concludes Wiggins and Bruyneel. "Especially at the Tour. It’s always chaos, but the earlier a team gets a win, the more it snowballs. The pressure disappears, mistakes are fewer, riders relax. Let’s be honest — more than half the teams here won’t win a single stage, let alone two. Alpecin already have. If Jasper makes it three, that would be incredible.”