After snarls back and forth, fight between UAE and Visma appears to take on new dimension: "This isn't a little thing anymore"

For those who missed it, let’s go back to Sunday’s stage, where Jonas Vingegaard crashed early. “There was a moment when Jonas was trying to return after the crash delay, while three Visma riders were up front. Tim (Wellens, ed.) and I tried to calm things down from the breakaway group so that everyone could come back,” said Tadej Pogacar afterwards.

The world champion, however, saw Wout van Aert and Victor Campenaerts continue riding, along with Matteo Jorgenson. “I didn’t know what to think. I blocked Matteo so they couldn’t all keep pushing. Maybe I actually helped Jonas by doing that, because it was a pretty strange situation. If I were in Jonas’ shoes, I wouldn’t have been the happiest at dinner tonight. Because I still think he can win the Tour.”

Vingegaard responded with understanding. “I think the team directors should have sent one or two riders back from the breakaway, but we’ll talk about that later. It’s the responsibility of the team leaders.”

Teammate Van Aert, however, was far less forgiving. “It’s pretty funny that Tadej says that. It was crystal clear that UAE Emirates-XRG wanted Wellens in the break. They did exactly the same thing. If Tadej had just dropped back to Jonas’ group, that would have been true sportsmanship. Now he’s complaining about something that isn’t there.”

The tension between UAE and Visma seems to be heating up, and a new dimension may be added to the rivalry. According to Belgian newspaper HLN, Tiesj Benoot already hinted after the stage 13 time trial that the team classification could become a goal for the Killer Bees. A day later, it became clear how serious those words were. Victor Campenaerts climbed with the best during stage 14 and stayed in the mix on the final ascent to Superbagnères, until the Belgian was dropped.

“Frans (Maassen, ed.) told me not to ease off because Simon Yates and Sepp Kuss looked like they were cracking in the breakaway, so I could become the third rider in the classification behind Jonas, and my time would count,” Campenaerts said about Saturday’s stage. “So I kept pushing, but five minutes later, Frans said that Sepp and Simon seemed to recover, and I could park myself after all.”

As a result, Maassen was “a bit embarrassed about the communication” in the evening, according to Campenaerts. “But it does say something about how we’re looking at the team classification. It’s more than just a small detail.”

It’s not surprising that Visma | Lease a Bike has set its sights on the team classification. A quick look at the prize money shows why: it pays well. The team that wins the classification in Paris takes home €50,000. By comparison, the winners of the green jersey and the polka dot jersey receive half that amount, €25,000 each.

For Visma, though, it’s about more than just the money; it’s also about pride. Meanwhile, for their main rivals UAE, the classification doesn’t seem to hold the same importance. “Our primary focus is the yellow jersey. If we can also grab the team classification along the way, that’s a nice bonus, but we’re not going to go crazy for it,” said UAE sports director Marco Marcato.

Grischa Niermann sees it very differently. “We’re in the lead, and if UAE also wants to go for it, that’s their right. Do I think they’ll chase it? Yes, I think they will. It’s an additional battle,” said the German.