It is clear that Jonas Vingegaard was outclassed by the winner Tadej Pogacar in the Critérium du Dauphiné. However, how much this will mean for the Tour de France remains to be seen. After the Dauphiné, the Dane went to altitude training with his team Visma | Lease a Bike, where the training Killer Bees were spotted at an altitude of more than 2700 meters. There, a striking detail was noticed. “Tadej rode really strong in the race, but to be honest, we're focusing on ourselves,”
said Vingegaard after the Dauphiné. “If I had seen any weakness in him, I wouldn't have said anything.” He quickly shifted the pressure of the Tour onto Pogacar's shoulders. “As the defending champion, you're under more pressure, but that also depends on your preparation. He can handle it so that it won't matter much. We've both dealt with it well in recent years.”
Sports director Grischa Niermann had similar words. “Jonas was always the best behind Pogacar and finished second in the GC. Of course, we would have liked to win the Dauphiné. Still, I'm happy with where we are as a team right now. There's still some work to do, but that was to be expected.” Vingegaard concluded: “I still have three weeks to improve before the start of the Tour de France. Then we'll see where we stand.” The team is preparing at altitude, where the Visma | Lease a Bike riders have been spotted by cycling fans.
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Visma | Lease a Bike stays above 2000 meters
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X-blogger Lukás Ronald Lukács reports that his good friend Josep Termens, who posted the videos on his
Instagram, encountered several Visma | Lease a Bike riders during their altitude training. In the video, Matteo Jorgenson and team leader Vingegaard cycling uphill with apparent ease, which, according to Termens, would be at 2700 meters.
The cycling fan also noticed that the Dutch team went straight from the Dauphiné to the Col d'Iseran. This tough Alpine pass is at least 2770 meters high, and Termens says the team tackles it every day. This means that almost all training rides are above 2000 meters. Impressive!
The cycling fan also made another remarkable observation: Visma | Lease a Bike often lets its riders change bikes at the top. According to Termens, the Killer Bees do this very quickly before the people present ask for photos. Could the Dutch team be testing slightly different bikes?