Former national coach Lund questions Visma's tactics: 'Seems a bit unprepared'

Davide Piganzoli was announced as the eighth and final rider to join the Visma | Lease a Bike Tour de France team. After Wout van Aert dropped out, the question remained as to whom the Dutch team would call on, with the responsibility falling to the young Italian. Former Danish national team coach Anders Lund questions that decision.

Six riders were practically certain to compete at the Tour de France on behalf of the Dutch squad. With Christophe Laporte out, there had already been talk that Per Strand Hagenes would replace the Frenchman. However, when Van Aert had to withdraw due to an infected elbow wound, a new issue arose.

So the answer came in the form of Davide Piganzoli. “I’d say it’s a real surprise,” Lund told Eurosport. “I didn’t see that coming.” The young Italian competed in the Giro d’Italia earlier this year, where he impressed and helped Jonas Vingegaard secure the overall victory.

It was striking, however, that Piganzoli himself said he only found out a few days before the announcement. “It doesn’t seem like Piganzoli had always planned to ride the Tour. If he only found out a few days ago, that seems a bit unprepared,” said Lund.

The Dane knows that “last-minute decisions like this can be the right ones,” but: “They also seem a bit like panic.” Why? “There’s uncertainty surrounding him because he rode the Giro differently than the riders who always knew the Tour would follow afterward,” Lund observed as the young Italian ran out of steam in the Giro.

Still, the former national team coach knows all too well that Visma | Lease a Bike may have information that the outside world doesn’t. “There could very well be something that makes this decision the most obvious one. It’s just that this information can’t always be shared with the outside world. From the outside, it seems surprising, but internally at Visma, it could be a matter of course. They have access to a completely different amount of data than we do.”