"If they raced quietly the first 11 days Jonas would've been much closer" - Visma only have themselves to blame for stage 12 implosion says American ex-pro

Team Visma | Lease a Bike had been constantly aggressive over the first 11 stages of the 2025 Tour de France, trying to put the pressure on Tadej Pogacar at any possible opportunity. In the first big mountain stage of the race on stage 12 however, all those efforts caught up with Visma badly as Pogacar destroyed the team on the Hautacam climb.

"Incredible performance from Tadej Pogacar, who did not let yesterday’s crash get in the way of his plans to put on a dominant performance. While he downplayed his injuries and how he felt, I will say from experience that 100 perfect limited his body today," analysed American ex-pro Tom Danielson on his X account afterwards. "Yes, he could have gone faster today. His team rallied strongly around him and absolutely they will even step up more this race after seeing their leader not let a crash get in the way. Based on how Tadej has raced the first part of the Tour and how he has set up the season, he will now get stronger each stage.”

In stark comparison of the strength shown by Pogacar however, Team Visma | Lease a Bike were, as mentioned, found lacking when the going got tough. "Visma continued with their 'scorch the Earth' strategy for the 12th day and while they destroyed the peloton they also destroyed themselves," notes Danielson. "Sad to watch Matteo Jorgenson caught in the flames and watch his podium hopes disappear in smoke. He literally blew and was dropped while his team was riding on the front.”

"Shortly after Jonas was dropped and lost the largest amount of time I can reminder in the first mountain stage. It begs the question does Jonas have any say in the strategy?" he questions. "Did he suggest stopping at any point or was he on board the whole time? I think moving forward the team must make some changes. I would be quite confident that if they raced quietly the first 11 days Jonas would have been much closer today and in GC.”

It's Danielson's belief that Visma only have themselves to blame for their implosion as they pay for wasted efforts in the previous days. "Unfortunately I think this depletion is due to using more energy than his rivals the first part of the Tour and likely will make the next part of the race more difficult for him," he says of Jorgenson. "The thing is that second in the Tour is a massive result and he truly is, the second best rider in the race. This is a huge accomplishment and I think moving forward Visma can shift their focus to helping Jonas ride his best and be his best."

"You can do a beautiful race still and everyone can race well and feel good. At this point anything less than that is living in the past and not healthy for anyone," Danielson concludes. "We all also find ourselves here and the solution to becoming the best is simply lock in on being our best until we finally get there. I just feel bad for Matteo as he didn’t need to be sacrificed like that. I hope he can get a stage win now."