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Philippa York: "Jumbo-Visma only avoided a PR disaster when they put an end to 'the strongest wins' strategy"
CyclingWednesday, 20 September 2023 at 14:00
The Jumbo-Visma situation at the Vuelta a Espana was one no-one could've expected. Despite their immense talent and focus, Philippa York looks through the incredible scenes throughout the last two weeks of the race and how Jumbo-Visma managed three leaders who each carried their ambitions of winning the final Grand Tour of the season.
"If there's one thing you can be sure of at the Vuelta a España, it is that there will always be some controversy of sorts," Philippa York said in a column for Cyclingnews. That was ultimately the case with the constant discussion and criticism of Jumbo-Visma's tactics - who in the end won the race with the full podium. Sepp Kuss jumped into a favourable position on the GC early on and then when he resisted perfectly the first high-mountain test on stage 13, it opened way for an internal battle for victory within the Dutch team.
"Yet Kuss didn't fall apart on either of those days, creating Jumbo-Visma's leadership conundrum, while Evenepoel cracked in the French Pyrenees, forcing him to change his race strategy... All that was left were the parts they hadn't planned for: deciding who would actually win the Vuelta." That climaxed at the Alto de l'Angliru where, after Jonas Vingegaard attacked in two days, this time around it was Primoz Roglic, and the duo dropped Kuss who was isolated with them. Briefly, this expanded quite a lot the question on which one of them would win the race.
"The red jersey looked more like an existential discussion between the team management and the established leaders, namely Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard," she continues. "I imagine that became quite stressful for Kuss. He wasn't in that situation by chance or being gifted it, he'd earned it by being consistent just as he had been in so many other races when he was riding for his team leaders."
This gave way to a situation that is virtually unseen in cycling. The Dutch team had such comfort at the head of a Grand Tour that they literally were placed in the position where they could choose the winner. But doing so would result in huge tensions within the team, that until then had been so connected. The riders had to agree on it themselves, ultimately it was the decision to protect Sepp Kuss' lead and end the race with the standings as they were.
"However, the dilemmas of having multiple team leaders with different egos and ambitions really showed its ugly side on the Angliru... Jumbo-Visma only avoided a PR disaster when they put an end to 'the strongest wins' strategy and convinced Vingegaard and Roglič to ride for Kuss... 2024 will offer a new clean sheet and a new season but Jumbo-Visma will have to learn from their success at the Vuelta a España."
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