"We are going to try to protect Bart as best we can" - Visma are ready to play out the GC of Suisse with an unexpected leader

It was difficult to predict the outcome of the second stage of Tour de Suisse, but ultimately the day came down to a sprint between versatile sprinters. A kind of rider the Team Visma | Lease a Bike have not quite brought to Switzerland this year which meant more of a defensive role with Bart Lemmen who stays third in the GC.

"Our goal today was to not lose any time with Bart and that worked out perfectly," sports director Maarten Wynants said on a team website. "Since we don't have a top sprinter with us, we knew this would be one of the hardest days to get a good result. However, Tiesj wanted to go for it." Ultimately, it was a 12th spot for the Belgian all-rounder.

It's not a result that would move a needle for the Dutch superteam, but not a bad day either. "The stage was not tough enough to bring out Tiesj's qualities."

A more challenging day awaits the peloton tomorrow. With nearly 3,000 meters of climbing of which most is concentrated into the last 40 kilometers of the day. Wynants expects an open race: "We are going to try to protect Bart as best we can. Because of the special situation in the classification, we have to be prepared that it can become very unpredictable."