"We have to try to win it back somewhere" - Visma remain confident despite Jonas Vingegaard now over a minute down on Tadej Pogacar at Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard might have finished 4th on the stage 7 individual time-trial of the 2024 Tour de France, dropping to more than a minute down on his arch rival, Tadej Pogacar, but Team Visma | Lease a Bike maintain an optimistic outlook towards their leader's performances.

In something that is quickly becoming a running theme to Team Visma | Lease a Bike's post-stage interviews, "today we had expected to lose a bit more time," began the team's sports director, Merijn Zeeman in his post-stage reflections with Wielerflits. "Fortunately, that climb was still quite tough and he was able to make up some time. I think it was just really good. With this start, with the rides through Italy, the one with the Galibier and the time trial, we knew we would have to lose some time."

The fact of the matter is though, that with the 2024 Tour de France now a third of the way through, the two-time Maillot Jaune winner finds himself 3rd in the general classification, 1:15 off the pace being set by Tadej Pogacar.

“That's true, but it stayed within limits. We have to try to win it back somewhere," Zeeman analyses. "In the third week we'll see if Jonas' base is strong enough that he can rise above himself there, because he obviously needs that to win the Tour. We'll have to wait and see. The gravel stage will also be exciting, but that goes for everyone. One reconnaissance doesn't necessarily make you better on gravel. We'll have to deliver a top performance there as a team.”