Could Matteo Jorgenson co-lead with Jonas VIngegaard at Tour de France? "I won't say anything about that. Because that would be stupid" Visma DS says

Team Visma | Lease a Bike were strongly defeated at the Tour de France last year by a Tadej Pogacar that had no weak spots or bad days. Certainly, it will be very hard for anyone to even match him in the high mountains, but the Dutch team could have in Matteo Jorgenson a special weapon.

The American has shown great results last year, further complemented by his versatility (winning not only in the stage-races, but also in cobbled classics such as Dwars door Vlaanderen) and sheer consistency. This year he entered in the perfect position, winning Paris-Nice confidently, whilst Vingegaard crashed out of the race with a concussion.

The gap between the two seems smaller than ever, and both will race the Tour de France. Most likely, Jorgenson will have a luxury domestique role, whilst he himself can still contest for a Top10 as was the case last year - or more, if possible.

But could Visma go as far as starting the Grand Boucle with two leaders? "I won't say anything about that. Because that would be stupid, especially in Denmark. There is only one Jonas Vingegaard, and he is an exceptionally good rider. Matteo can help him in a way. Maybe as co-captain," DS Frans Maassen said in conversation to Feltet.

UAE will have a tremendously strong squad at the start, but Visma won't be too bad either with the likes of Simon Yates and Sepp Kuss as domestiques for the mountains, and an experienced all-round team including Wout van Aert filling in all the gaps.

"It is to Jonas' advantage that Matteo is also at his very best level. It may help him put pressure on. But it is too early to say anything about that yet," Maassen makes it clear. "Jonas and Pogacar are the primary candidates for the Tour. There are two favorites, and then there are a lot of other good riders".

This will likely apply regardless of Jorgenson's results over the upcoming months, as last year he already did prove his quality. "That is true, and he is taking steps, but I can't say anything about it yet. What Jonas did last year was incredible. Second place felt like a victory, and I hope that with the ideal preparation he can get closer to Pogacar".