🎥 Has the rivalry between Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Emirates-XRG hit a new high? "It’s a strange way of racing"

The jury of the French stage race came to this conclusion after reviewing the footage. It shows Per Strand Hagenes and Nils Politt exchanging several blows. Neither rider commented on the incident, but they were subsequently fined 500 Swiss francs, given a yellow card, and deducted 25 UCI points.

Colleagues in the peloton also noticed the rivalry between the two top teams. “They are trying to control the peloton by increasing the speed,” said Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious). "They are racing against each other. It's a strange way of racing, to be honest. It's like a game to see who can dive into the descent first for the other team. And that makes it harder for us. And to be honest, we weren't riding that hard on that climb for any reason. It was a speed that prevented anyone from attacking."

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Afterward, the incident was not mentioned on the Dutch team's website. However, the title "Team Visma | Lease a Bike comes through second stage of Critérium du Dauphiné unscathed" may have been an unintentional nod to the incident. The Emirates team also did not discuss it.

However, sports director Grischa Niermann did have something to say about the stage. 'The stage unfolded as we had anticipated. Teams like Lidl-Trek had targeted the stage win today with their sprinter. Congratulations to them. Our riders made a good impression once again. During the more hectic moments, they were always well positioned. We’re looking forward to the rest of the week."

The images from the second stage contrast sharply with those shown by the two leaders of both teams after the opening stage. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) shook hands immediately after the finish, congratulated each other on the result, and chatted briefly after a very exciting finale in which both men played the starring roles.

That sportsmanship also caught the eye of analyst José de Cauwer, as previously reported on this website. "I particularly enjoyed the openness and sportsmanship between Pogacar and Vingegaard. I rarely see such smiles between them, looking openly into each other's eyes without any jealousy or hostility. They were actually two newcomers who said to each other after the finish line that they were happy with what they had done. I thought that was a very nice image.",

Pogacar and Vingegaard were not directly involved in the incident between Politt and Hagenes. The two leaders both had teammates riding in front of them, which meant they avoided the incident.