Visma react to difficult Il Lombardia: "We can’t blame ourselves for not trying"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar once again proved unstoppable at Il Lombardia, crushing the competition and leaving Visma-Lease a Bike unable to match his power. Pogacar, who has outperformed Visma on just about every occasion this year, delivered a commanding performance, bouncing back from the defeat handed to him by Jonas Vingegaard and Visma back in 2023.
Despite their setbacks in 2024, Visma remains optimistic about the future.
Wilco Kelderman and Tiesj Benoot were both part of the early breakaway, but their hopes began to fade with around 50 kilometres to go. After the race, Benoot shared his thoughts on the team’s efforts:
“I had a fairly good day,” Benoot said. “At the start, I felt strong, but later in the race, I started having some stomach issues. We created a solid situation with a large breakaway, and the collaboration was decent. Everyone knew Pogacar would attack, but I believe a top result was still possible. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but we can’t blame ourselves for not trying. Now it’s time for a break before we shift focus to preparing for next season.”
Visma’s sports director Marc Reef echoed Benoot’s sentiment, explaining the team’s approach:
“With Tiesj and Wilco, we aimed to reach the top of the Sormano with a decent lead. Unfortunately, Pogacar’s team kept the gap small and had everything under control. We’re satisfied with how we raced, though. We executed our plan and fought hard.”
Looking ahead, Visma is determined to learn from a challenging 2024 and will aim to bounce back stronger in 2025.
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