Pogacar annoyed and didn’t understand the attack from Visma | LaB, Dutch team responds sharply: ‘Great that he doesn’t understand it"

“At the end, Visma wanted... Yes, I don't know what they were trying to do,” said a somewhat perplexed Pogacar after the finish. “They went fast, so we just followed. The start and the first two hours were very, very tough. Really unbelievably fast. We survived those two hours well and then we decided whether or not to go for the stage win. We decided not to waste our energy and rode at our own pace. Nils, Marc, and the rest of the team did their job. Then Visma came.”

The Killer Bees set a grueling pace in the final kilometers. “They went full throttle on the last two climbs. Perhaps they had information that van der Poel was losing time at the front and was struggling. Maybe Visma wanted to give me the yellow jersey today. But in the end, Mathieu won by one second, so hats off to him.”

Van der Poel crossed the finish line completely exhausted, coming in last of the breakaway riders in Vire Normandie. The former world champion suddenly saw the peloton closing in fast, but in the end, he had just enough left to keep the yellow jersey. “It was a super performance from him today. The early breakaway did very well at the front today. All credit to them.” Ben Healy was by far the strongest in the stage with over 3500 meters of climbing.

Pogi can ride in the world champion's jersey for at least another day: in addition to the yellow jersey, he also lost the polka dot jersey (to Tim Wellens) and the green jersey (to Jonathan Milan). "I don't mind having the yellow jersey. But as I said, the goal today was to use as little energy as possible. Tomorrow is another good finish for me. After that, we'll need our legs for the second and third weeks. What we did today was very good." The Mûr-de-Bretagne awaits on Friday, where the Slovenian will be the top favorite. If he wins, he will definitely take back the yellow jersey.

After the race, Pogacar congratulated Van der Poel on regaining the leader's jersey. “One day in yellow - always an honour,” he said on Instagram. “Bravo, Mathieu, to claim it back,” Van der Poel was quick to respond with a funny comment under the post. “You think 1sec is enough for me to keep it to Paris?” You never know, but we doubt it.

Josean ‘Matxín’ Fernández, team director of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, explained after the finish why they ultimately let Van der Poel ride. "Defending the yellow jersey depended on the race," the Spaniard told ESCiclismo. "If we saw that it was going to be difficult, we would control the race because the Tour is still long. The breakaway formed, and the best-placed rider was van der Poel. A great rider but not a threat to the GC."

So Pogacar's team let the breakaway ride in the final, and the gap to lone breakaway rider Healy even reached 7 minutes at one point. Thanks to Visma | Lease a Bike, that gap was reduced again. “If you have no chance of controlling the breakaway group and you don't see any danger, you relax. It was a tough day, and we tried to save energy. It was good for Van der Poel and for us.”

Before Friday's stage, there was a response from the Visma | Lease a Bike camp, in the form of Benoot. "We did try to accelerate on the penultimate and final climbs. It's just such an explosive finish that we have to make it as difficult as possible, so that Pogacar is unable to get ahead of Jonas," he told NOS.

Did Visma | Lease a Bike not want to keep Pogacar in yellow? “We didn't really think about the jersey,” Benoot said firmly. “Otherwise, it would have been easier to ride at the front and keep the leading group more closely. We didn't do that. The fact that Mathieu now has the jersey is because they didn't ride hard enough at the front.”

Sports director Grischa Niermann was also asked about Pogacar's criticism. "It's great that he doesn't get it," the German told Sporza. "We're sticking to our own tactics and did exactly what we wanted to do. That's all. Did we want him in yellow? Absolutely not. I hear what is said, but I think UAE rode until 6 kilometers before the finish and determined the lead themselves. They also determined that Pogacar would almost stay in yellow."

The sports director of Visma | Lease a Bike responded somewhat annoyed. The game between the big teams now seems to have really started. “That started on day 1,” said Niermann, who wants to keep the focus on his own team and not think too much about his rivals. “What do I think of the criticism? I think it's a compliment that he's interfering with us. We look at ourselves, determine our own tactics, and don't interfere with that.”