Former Vuelta winner puzzled by Plugge’s comments: "Better to lose a few seconds to Pogacar"

The team time trial in Barcelona will follow the example of Paris-Nice, where, in a normal team time trial, the time of the fourth or fifth rider counts; now the time per individual rider will apply. The front riders, therefore, do not have to take the dropped riders into account and can push on to the finish. Plugge did not like the idea.

“I'm not in favor of it,” said Plugge on Thursday. “It takes away the ‘team’ aspect. A team time trial is a team time trial, and what makes it so great is that the time of the number four or five counts, so you have to take them with you to the finish. That's what I like about it, but it is what it is, and we have to adapt to it.”

Horner thinks the team manager of Visma | Lease a Bike is being silly. “I don't like the interview,” the American said on his YouTube channel. “Why do you need four or five riders to cross the finish line together? Why not all eight? I think it's great that something new is being done; it adds a new layer of strategy. You're missing the point if you call it 'one big lead-out.’”

According to the winner of the 2013 Vuelta a España, the team time trial does not mean you have to form a kind of sprint train for your leader: there is too much risk involved. “Visma can't go into the first stage thinking it's a lead-out. If you do that, you run the risk of blowing up the whole team before the race even starts.”

Moreover, Visma | Lease a Bike's strength lies in its selection, not in the leader's strength alone. It would be a shame to play all your cards on day 1. “It's better to lose a few seconds to Pogacar than to lose your entire team. You want Jonas, Sepp, Yates, and Van Aert all within reach of the yellow jersey after day one. That gives you tactical strength later on."

Vingegaard, who finished second behind Pogacar in 2024 and 2025, will not lose the Tour de France in the first team time trial, Horner believes. “As Jonas Vingegaard has often said, you never win the Tour by seconds, but always by minutes. So take it easy, Richard Plugge. Keep everything together and give yourself the chance to fight tactically later in the race.”

If Vingegaard can find his old form, it could get exciting again later in the Tour, the American analyst says. “Jonas' time trial in 2023 was one of the most dominant performances I've ever seen. Pogacar was great, but Jonas was from another planet that day. If he can come back to that level, we'll see another great duel.”