How Visma | Lease a Bike planned to beat Pogačar at the Tour de France: ‘He looked less brilliant than usual’

Davide Piganzoli was the surprise replacement for Wout van Aert at the Tour de France. The young Italian had already helped Visma leader Jonas Vingegaard win the Giro d’Italia before unexpectedly being called up for the Tour as well. Even deep into the French Grand Tour, the Dutch team continued to believe Tadej Pogačar could be beaten, and Piganzoli has now explained the thinking behind its plan.

Visma | Lease a Bike had to make several late changes before the Tour de France. Compared with the core of the team used in recent seasons, Van Aert, Christophe Laporte and Simon Yates all had to be replaced. That made Piganzoli the somewhat surprising eighth and final selection, despite the 24-year-old having only just completed the Giro d’Italia.

Unsurprisingly, fatigue became a factor — and it was there almost from the beginning. “I was really tired until the end of the second week, but I recovered on the final rest day and gradually started to feel better in my legs,” Piganzoli told Bici. “The tiredness returned during the final two stages, but we worked well to get into the breakaway.”

That breakaway strategy was an emergency plan B after team leader Vingegaard crashed out during Stage 15. Visma had entered that particular stage with a very different plan. “To be honest, the main objectives for both me and the team were Stages 15 and 20, where the goal was to support Vingegaard,” Piganzoli explained. “We had identified those as the hardest stages, and I was supposed to stay close to him on those days.”

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All things considered, Piganzoli felt his Tour had gone reasonably well. “It was a shame about Jonas’ crash and injury. In any case, we carried on as well as we possibly could.” That came after he had already raced the Giro in May. “It is definitely difficult,” the Italian said of completing the Giro–Tour double. “Now that this effort is over, I will need some time to recover and recharge.”

Alongside the physical demands of the Giro d’Italia, there had also been another important component: pressure. “Honestly, I felt more pressure at the Giro because that was the race I had been preparing for since the beginning of the season,” he explained. “I arrived wanting to show the team that I was capable of doing the job and to fulfil the responsibility they had given me.”

Piganzoli therefore felt slightly less pressure at the Tour de France. But did that remain the case while trying to challenge Pogačar for the overall victory? “As long as Vingegaard was still in the race, we were working to win the Tour, not to finish second,” he said. “We did not take it for granted that Jonas would win, but we carried out the plan we had in mind. Even on the day of the crash, we had moved to the front with the intention of dictating the pace of the race.”

Piganzoli reiterated that, immediately before Vingegaard’s crash, Visma still believed Pogačar could be beaten. How did the team intend to do it? “In the end, we had seen Vingegaard’s numbers and knew where his strengths were. He finds changes of rhythm difficult, but over a sustained pace we were convinced that we could do something,” the Italian explained.

“On the day at Le Markstein, when Vingegaard began setting the pace, Pogačar looked less brilliant than usual,” Piganzoli concluded. It should, however, be noted that Pogačar eventually won the stage to Le Markstein, finishing 44 seconds ahead of Vingegaard, who crossed the line in fourth place.