"They smelled blood but got a cold shoulder" - Ilan Van Wilder reflects on week 2 downfall of Visma

Tadej Pogacar showed a possible weakness on Wednesday when he crashed, but when Visma | Lease a Bike tried to exploit that opportunity following day, they hit a brick wall. Remco Evenepoel was one of victims of their brutal pace on Col du Soulor, but so were all of the Visma domestiques.

"A lot of riders blew themselves up trying to match Visma | Lease a Bike's pace," Ilan Van Wilder explained what had happened to Het Nieuwsblad afterwards.

"And Visma themselves did too. Because the way they race, you simply can't keep it up all the way to Paris. I'm sorry to say, but those guys smelled blood after Tadej crashed yesterday and pulled out all the stops, and they got a cold shoulder," Van Wilder added.

Pogacar ultimately gained two minutes on Jonas Vingegaard who had to fear for his second place instead. Evenepoel eventually found his way back into the group of favourites before Hautacam, but then was dropped again and finished only 7th. And whil Vingegaard was able to somewhat bounce back in the follow-up mountain time trial, Remco lost further 2:39 in 12nd place on the day.

When the Olympic champion dropped on Soulor, Van Wilder was there to help his teammate regain pace and confidence. "I know Remco very well and knew he needed a steady pace. By being able to pedal at a lower wattage for a while, he regained his rhythm and ultimately his morale," said Van Wilder.

All things consider, the Soudal - Quick-Step must've been happy with outcome that day. It was not what Remco wished for, but podium is still within his sights. "He rode a fantastic race with the legs he had, because let's be honest: this wasn't the Remco we know," Van Wilder added. "We can really be happy with the race he rode."