Vincent Lavenu thinks UAE's tactics in stage 11 were effective even if they lost on the day: "They still put a lot of leaders in difficulty"

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale are having a great 2024 regardless of how Tour de France plays out. However a stage victory would still be more than welcome as the team has been playing a minor role at the Grande Boucle so far.

Team manager Vincent Lavenu summed up the eleventh stage to Le Lioran where his team was on the offensive, on Cyclism'Actu: "There were two possible scenarios, that the breakaway would win, that's why many riders tried to get away from the peloton," he explains the tactics which saw French road champion Paul Lapeira and French time trial champion Bruno Armirail enter the breakaway.

"Everyone believed in it, we ourselves had two riders in the breakaway unfortunately, the UAE team decided otherwise," however that move didn't stick due to yellow jersey wearer's team. "I think Pogacar wanted to do damage and even if he doesn't win they still put a lot of leaders in difficulty so their strategy is good."

"We are on track with what we had planned, now we have to win at least one stage and have a good overall ranking. We are still optimistic, there is a good atmosphere, the riders are fighting, they are united and that is how we will get there. We know it is very difficult but we are not giving up, we had very high ambitions at the start of the Tour and that is still the case."