"We tried to make it hard but Pogacar was simply the strongest” - Wout van Aert sees familiar pattern for Visma on stage 7 of 2025 Tour de France

Team Visma | Lease a Bike's tactics have been a major talking point at the 2025 Tour de France so far. On stage 7, they again tried to set a fierce pace towards the finale, keeping the pressure on Tadej Pogacar and ensuring a hard day every day. Once again though, their Slovenian rival seemed relatively unbothered as he powered to another stage win atop the Mur-de-Bretagne.

As always, a key part of any Team Visma | Lease a Bike tactic was Wout van Aert. The Belgian was part of a big acceleration the first time up the Mur-de-Bretagne, and then put further pressure on Jonas Vingegaard's rivals with an attacking descent. 

“It’s tough, but it’s normal. If I’m feeling good, I wouldn’t let my closest rivals go either," Van Aert told Belgian media afterwards when asked if it's frustrating that he never gets the freedom from UAE to go clear with his attacks. "That’s racing."

"In the finale, we tried to make it hard. If we wanted a shot at the stage win, it needed to be a tough finish — and we managed that. But Pogacar was simply the strongest,” he continues, admitting that the kind of intense racing that brings the GC guys out to play, also hinders his own ambitions of a stage win. “That’s kind of been the story of this whole first week. The GC guys are going for it, and it’s great to watch — but then it’s normal that I’m not up there with them. I felt good. I tried a lot in the early part of the stage, and I was still there in the finale.”