Visma disappointed with lack of podium at GP de Montréal: "Jorgenson was certainly strong enough"

Team Visma | Lease a Bike went all-out on the attack at the GP de Québec but finished fourth and fifth; and this Sunday at the GP de Montréal the Dutch team once again missed out on the podium after a tactical finale. Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot were active in the end of the race but the latter came out with a seventh place to wrap up the racing in Canada.

Matteo Jorgenson had tried to respond to Tadej Pogacar's initial attack in Mont Royal, unsuccessfully, and then Bart Lemmen was part of the counter-attack inbetween climbs that allowed his two teammates to follow the wheels behind. However in the final climb neither had the legs to make the difference. Jorgenson finished 12th on the day and Tiesj Benoot also didn't have the best conditions in the final sprint - riding to 7th at the finish line.

“I had to brake just before the sprint, otherwise I might have finished higher than seventh. We fought well as a team and had many riders in the final," Benoot said in a post-race interview. "A podium finish would have been nice, but as a team we certainly can’t be dissatisfied... It's been two great races for me. That gives me a lot of confidence with the World Championships coming up," he believes. He will be one of Belgium's key figures into the World Championships, with Slovenia coming in with an extremely strong team.

DS Frans Maassen expressed some disappointment with the outcome of the race. “The goal for today was a podium finish and we worked hard for that. Jorgenson was certainly strong enough, but didn't get the space we were hoping for," he argued. "I go home feeling satisfied. We colored both races, even though we did not win. We rode very strongly as a team here and competed for the victory twice.”