"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
Cycling
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.”
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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