Jonas Vingegaard reacts briefly: "I tried to play the game"

Although Visma | Lease a Bike collectively looked very strong on the way to the Col de la Loze, little remained of that on Friday. Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, Wout van Aert, and Tiesj Benoot had to drop out early, so the Dutch team was unable to control the race.

So they let Vingegaard follow Pogacar, explains Niermann. “We knew that Tadej also wanted to win and that UAE would keep the breakaway group under control. On the final climb, we knew there was no point in attacking early because we wanted Jonas to go for the stage win.”

"He came very close, but in the end, he and Tadej started their sprint a little too late," said the sports director, who did see positive signs from his team leader. "He was very strong again. Tadej tried a few times at the foot of the final climb, where he tried to drop everyone, but Jonas was there and was able to stay on his wheel."

“He did well, and he was able to save some energy in the slipstream. He rode really well, but in the end they couldn't catch Arensman and he didn't win the stage,” concluded Niermann. “Maybe they could have caught Arensman if Jonas had gone earlier, but then Tadej might have been on his wheel and he could have won the sprint.”

“It's easy to say that Jonas should have made his move a little earlier, but there's a good chance that Pogacar would have been on his wheel and overtaken him in the final meters,” the German believes. How was Vingegaard able to finish ahead of Pogacar? “I don't know. You'll have to ask him – and especially Tadej. Tadej had to work hard on the final climb, and that was obviously to our advantage."

The Dane himself responded shortly after with a brief comment. “Of course it's a bummer. I tried to play the game on the last climb, and I was more focused on winning the stage than on winning time,” he said. “It's unfortunate that Thymen Arensman was there, of course. But he rode hard today.”