"Tadej wasn’t caught out — he’s not easily surprised” but Victor Campenaerts insists Visma must 'stick to the plan' at 2025 Tour de France

Team Visma | Lease a Bike tried their upmost to explode the Tour de France on stage 10, but when all was said and done, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard once again proved evenly matched. According to Victor Campenaerts however, Visma must not get downhearted and must "stick to the plan" of putting pressure on UAE for the remainder of the race.

Campenaerts, who spent most of the day in breakaway alongside his eventual stage winning teammate Simon Yates, reflected on his efforts in conversation with Sporza post-stage. “The message from the car was clear: Simon was to go for the stage win, and I was to wait at the top of the final climb,” Campenaerts explained. “Simon said he wasn’t feeling great, but he still managed to win."

Having dropped back to the GC group however, Campenaerts noted how despite all Visma's hard work and pressuring, Pogacar remained supremely relaxed. "I saw firsthand how Tadej wasn’t caught out — he’s not easily surprised,” the Belgian rues. “It would’ve been nice if he’d been dropped and I could’ve taken my turn, but as it was, there wasn’t much to be done. All we can do is try and stick to the plan.”

“It was a brutally tough course, and the strongest riders rose to the top. It didn’t hurt us that Ben Healy went all in for yellow, though I might’ve preferred if UAE had ridden a bit more recklessly and chased us like madmen,” he added with a smile in conclusion. “Of course, they knew it wouldn’t work if they tried to control things until a break formed without anyone from Visma in it.”