"It all becomes a bit more chaotic" - Jonas Vingegaard explains attempt to pressure Tadej Pogacar in stage 9 Tour de France crosswinds
Cycling
As has been the case for much of the opening week at the 2025 Tour de France, Team Visma | Lease a Bike were attacking and aggressive at the front of the peloton on stage 9, looking for any opportunity to put the pressure on Tadej Pogacar. Although they put the hammer down in the crosswinds and did cause some serious splits behind, Pogacar was a match once again.
“We tried at one point — there’s a section where the road turns almost 180 degrees to the left, and we thought the wind would hit us more from the side,” explained Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader and Pogacar's long-time Maillot Jaune rival Jonas Vingegaard in a post-stage interview with TV 2 Sport. “But it turned out to be more of a tailwind than we expected. We’d hoped for a side-tailwind, which is ideal for breaking up the bunch. Unfortunately, it was more of a straight tailwind, so nothing happened.”
Whilst the move was ultimately unsuccessful, Vingegaard makes no attempt to hide the fact his team are looking to create chaos. “Obviously, the pace in the peloton goes up, and when you have a battle for position at the same time, it all becomes a bit more chaotic,” adds the two-time Tour de France winner. “The speed has to be so high that you can’t just block the front of the bunch like you normally might. So during the hectic parts of the race, it all gets a bit messier.”
When it is more messy and more chaotic, there is of course more chance for the big GC contenders to be caught out. As such, whilst it didn't work this time, don't be surprised to see Team Visma | Lease a Bike try something similar again if the opportunity arises later on in the race.
“It was a genuine attempt, but we more or less knew the wind wouldn’t be strong enough. Remco Evenepoel and Tadej were already up front,” Visma DS Grischa Niermann said to TV 2 Sport. “We gave it a try, but it was clear the wind wasn’t strong enough, so we pulled back and let the sprint teams take over.”
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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