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"Jonas Vingegaard has to ride in Wout van Aert's pocket all day" - Visma clear on gravel tactics at Tour de France
CyclingSunday, 07 July 2024 at 14:48
Much has been made of stage 9 of the 2024 Tour de France as the races takes the riders onto the gravel with potentially GC shifting ramifications. The time for talking is now over though, as the day is here and for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, the plan is clear.
"This stage is meant for the spectacle and anything can happen. It's one of those stages where everyone on the bus feels the tension," Team Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Merijn Zeeman previews of the stage in conversation with In de Leiderstrui. "We have to ride with conviction, because our riders can handle this course well."
With the defending Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard having question marks over his level following his massive crash at the Itzulia Basque Country earlier this year, it's imperative that the Dane is kept out of trouble on this day as another crash could spell disaster for any Maillot Jaune hopes Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike have for the 2024 Tour de France.
"If possible, we also want to take initiative. Jonas Vingegaard has to ride in Wout van Aert's pocket all day. On the luggage rack," Zeeman continues, divulging a few details of the Team Visma | Lease a Bike plan. "If we get into a situation in the final where we can win, we won't hesitate. But we can only draw up that balance after the last sector."
With Vingegaard already over a minute down on his arch rival Tadej Pogacar however, and the UAE Team Emirates leader himself a multiple time Strade Bianche winner on the gravel, even at his best level, the odds would look slightly stacked against Vingegaard on a stage such as this. Whether of not the Team Visma | Lease a Bike plan can bring a fruitful outcome? We will soon find out.
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- Wout still recovering from injuries? Might be more of a factor than any attempted middle finger to the UCI?mobk15-11-2024
- We ll talk about all of this in 10 years - but for now lets stop the bullshitChrisBe14-11-2024
- This may very well be is the least germaine comment I've ever read online.verve82514-11-2024
- Yes! Clear up these gray areas before lives are lost or damaged!velodan14-11-2024
- Surely the question should be what else are they using as they smash climbing records? Records that have stood since the EPO era.DJ14-11-2024
- Why? He is past his "sell by "date. Just like Froome.
ScottG14-11-2024 - Without Wout or mvdp cyclocross is a sleeperScottG14-11-2024
- Tom has a bit of an overblown image of himself. Contrast him to Pog- night and day.ScottG14-11-2024
- The other commenters are exactly right - different eras. It does help that bikes now have lower gears without sacrificing higher ones. Merckx rode up mountain passes with a 5 speed cluster- and I doubt he had anything less than a 42x24. See how exhausted you'd be going up Mont Ventoux with that, lol.ScottG14-11-2024
- Times have changed, Bart Wellens, and it's only natural and makes total sense that riders like Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel's primary focus is on their road careers. It has absolutely nothing to do with doing a 'disservice' to the UCI.
santiagobenites14-11-2024