“Jonas Vingegaard focuses as much as possible on Tadej Pogačar. In hindsight, he could have done something" - Jumbo-Visma's Frans Maassen on stage 2 drama at the Tour de France

Victor Lafay took the win on stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de France. Post-stage however, all the talk was about Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and the tension seemingly brewing at Jumbo-Visma.

Fighting on two fronts at a Grand Tour is never easy. The team's main goal is obviously the Maillot Jaune with Vingegaard but winning stages with van Aert is also important. A tough task for Sports Director, Frans Maassen to keep everyone happy. “He focuses as much as possible on Pogačar, of course," he says of Vingegaard to NOS. "In hindsight, he could have done something."

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As Lafay dangled just out of reach in the final few hundred metres, that one turn from Vingegaard could have given van Aert the victory. That turn never came so we'll never know for sure. But as Maassen explains, a turn from Vingegaard wasn't risk free.

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"You don't count on an attack from Lafay in the last kilometre. And it's not a PlayStation. Wout could also have caught Lafay back, but then he would have been beaten by Pogačar in the sprint, and you don't want that at all," he says. “You are so close and you wish Wout the victory, then it is a pity that you do not take him. We have seen a super team and we have to hold on to that. On to the next day again."

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