"Primoz has made a very large contribution to the exhaustion of Pogacar" - Niermann and Plugge confirm plan success

Jumbo-Visma decimated the Tour de France yesterday, using a mix of aggressive tactics and strong depth in the mountains to wear out Tadej Pogacar and ride into the yellow jersey with Jonas Vingegaard after a dominant ascent to the Col du Granon.

Team DS Grischa Niermann shared his thoughts with Wielerflits: "I don't think Pogacar had a very bad day. I think he wasted so much strength on the Galibier that he found himself a little bit later on the Granon because of it. We wanted to advance Primoz Roglic on the Galibier, but he did not want to give Primoz that freedom. With this, Primoz has made a very large contribution to the exhaustion of Pogacar," he explained.

With Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert in the breakaway, the plan was clear for the Dutch team from the start. However with Primoz Roglic dropped the team had a stepback at the Col du Galibier. The work was done however, and Niermann stresses the importance of the Slovenian in the team's strategy. “After Primoz had ridden off, Pogacar himself led the way for a long time with Jonas in his wheel. I think this cost him a lot of strength".

"He made a very strong impression on the Galibier. He eventually had a breakdown. That is of course good for us," he added. The added workload then favoured the team, which now has a hold of the race with a slight lead over the previous leader.

Team manager Richard Plugge argumented: “It had to happen once with his team, which is severely weakened. You also saw that on the Galibier, where he had to close a lot of holes himself. Our intention was also to wear him down there, so that he would pay for those efforts later.” Sure enough the plan succeeded, and the team is currently holding the lead of the Tour de France.