"The team’s built around Primoz Roglic" - Peloton's most in-form sprinter set to miss Tour de France
CyclingWednesday, 25 June 2025 at 08:40
A former winner on the Champs Elysees, Jordi Meeus knows exactly what it takes to have a successful Tour de France. Despite taking two World Tour wins in the last week however, the 26-year-old Belgian is looking likely to be left out of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's lineup for the 2025 edition of the French Grand Tour.
"Technically, I'm still on the reserve list," Meeus explained to the media after his win last weekend at the inaugural Copenhagen Sprint, noting how Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's goals for the Tour de France are loftier than sprint stage wins. "It's fifty-fifty at the moment. The team’s built around Primoz Roglic. All I can do is be in the best shape possible."
Meeus had won a stage of the Tour de Suisse earlier in the week, before abandoning ahead of stage 7 and immediately making the journey to Denmark in order to be on the start line in Copenhagen. On Sunday, the Belgian then stormed to victory ahead of the likes of Arnaud Demare, Dylan Groenewegen and Phil Bauhaus, among others, for his second World Tour win in a matter of days.
Because of this strong form, if Meeus can force his way into Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's, a potential stage 1 win and a spell in the Maillot Jaune is up for grabs for the Belgian. "That opening stage in Lille, with the chance of taking the yellow jersey, gives the whole Tour story something extra. It’s not often you get a shot at wearing the leader’s jersey straight away, so who knows," he previews hopefully.
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe are yet to officially announce their lineup for the 2025 Tour de France, but with only six riders predicted in the provisional startlist (Roglic, Jan Tratnik, Daniel Martinez, Aleksandr Vlasov, Danny van Poppel and Florian Lipowitz), that would leave two spots open for the likes of Meeus to fight for.
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- One the one hand yes, on the other, TT is more of a measure of individual performance than positioning during hours of being pulled. In a tdf where each rider is alone all the way, it’d be interesting to see how the GC would look.Mistermaumau10-07-2025
- But very strong and convinced it need only be applied to othersMistermaumau10-07-2025
- Sorry, I pressed send by mistake. I agree with that Tadej has usually been more playful, but when he's obviously having a tough time, everyone can see it, he seems to hold back from crying.Hill3310-07-2025
- Vauquelin made him look like an old man when he passed him.Renz10-07-2025
- It seems too ingrained that he's in a tough sport and mustn't cry.Hill3310-07-2025
- Does he or his team work on his TT to the extent of the top teams?abstractengineer10-07-2025
- Yes, it's likely there was tension with his wife too, which would have aggravated the emotional destabilization. Regarding Tadej, I was referring to the sporting aspect. I never saw him cry, not even when he won something or when he brutally lost the Tour de France 2023. He takes the sport more playfully.
maria2024202410-07-2025 - The 2 causes you mention are certainly possible. A couple of things sprang to mind as I read them, though. One is that Jonas's wife might expect him to support her right to speak out, so she may be more upset than his team. The other is that Tadej has come close to crying at various times, but the English-language media doesn't seem to care. Like when he looked frazzled in the first stages of the Tour last year, and the fact that his grandfather had just died and he got Covid while going home for the funeral never occurred to them as contributing to this.Hill3310-07-2025
- IMO, 2 causes: 1- His wife's media scandal. Jonas is very emotional, he probably didn't sleep well and the atmosphere with his colleagues must have become strained. Another big difference with Tadej. Has anyone ever seen Tadej cry? emotionally is a rock. 2- his efforts to keep up with the two best Classics riders (Tadej and Mathieu). Becoming unnatural in this mode is an effort that comes at a price.maria2024202410-07-2025
- Maybe it was those incredibly stupid looking helmets!frieders310-07-2025
He has a better shot at winning a stage than Roglic, sadly...
That's because he's a sprinter. Sprinters always win more. If I'm not mistaken, both Merlier and Brennan have 10 wins this year, though neither have been as important as Pogačar, who has 11