"That's a really bitter pill" - Visma forced to switch tactics after Simon Yates unexpectedly drops time on GC

Team Visma | Lease a Bike are in control of Paris-Nice, but at Tirreno-Adriatico things are not going to plan. In a hilly stage that didn't seem to offer much difficulty to the GC riders, Simon Yates was one of the riders who has lost time and leaves the team with few hopes of fighting for a top result.

"We didn't expect Simon to lose time. That's a really bitter pill," team DS Maarten Wynants said after the stage. "Olav [Kooij] also showed himself strong, but had to drop out [of the peloton] due to the high pace. You hope that the pace is not very high on the final climb, so that Olav could perhaps sprint along. But unfortunately that was not the case".

The stage proved too hard for Kooij to battle for a sprint, in a race where Jonathan Milan will continue to give him a headache on the flat finales, and the team's sole GC card Yates has had a tough time debuting with the Dutch team. A few days remain for him to potentially improve his form and fight for a result but a top overall classification result is virtually out of the bag of possibilities.

Cian Uijtdebroeks may end up filling up the role, however after a bad time-trial he is one of the last GC contenders on the current classification, and at best could enter the Top10 if he has a top result on the queen stage. But the Belgian also had a tough time in the cold and long stage.

“It was really cold and I suffered a lot. It was especially important to stay mentally strong. I motivated myself constantly and my legs were fine," he added following the finale.

“I certainly had the legs to attack, but when they attacked, I was just too far away. Fortunately, I was able to close the gap fairly easily afterwards. I’m glad I didn’t lose any time and the feeling is good.”