Jumbo-Visma quietly celebrates, out of respect for Pogacar: "Tremendous respect for him as an opponent"

"It's a team effort," Wilco Kelderman says with a big smile as he starts off his analysis for NOS. The Dutchman was part of the breakaway on Wednesday, alongside Tiesj Benoot, and could thus do a lot of work for Vingegaard when Pogacar was dropped early on Col de la Loze. "The way we're riding as a team here, everyone is so strong. We had a goal in mind, and we executed it perfectly. It really gives you this fantastic feeling, and it's amazing to be a part of it."

"Normally I wouldn't be riding here, but to be part of this with such an incredible team, that's simply amazing," the Dutch super-domestique beams. "You work towards this moment for months, train at high altitudes, spend so many weeks together. Then you dream of winning the Tour with Jonas, and seeing how he's performing so far, it's just beautiful. We're not there yet, but we're heading in the right direction. I heard in my earpiece that they had dropped Pogacar, and then you know that everything now revolves around Jonas. I couldn't have won the stage here, but when you hear that, you just know what your job is. We had an agreement that Tiesj would wait first, and then me. It worked out well."

Benoot himself confirms this when talking to Sporza. The Belgian cyclist saw the team's lead over the competition grow from two to seven minutes - in the span of a single day. However, he understands that they must first reach Paris and not celebrate too soon. "The Tour is not over yet. We need to stay focused. Jonas must stay healthy and on his bike. When we've all safely made it across the finish on Saturday, that's when we can start having a small celebration in the evening. And then the real celebration will be on Sunday. We shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch."

Still, Benoot is naturally pleased that Jumbo-Visma's expectations were met. "We knew that if we could break Pogacar's stride today, the difference would be significant. And that's exactly what happened." The Slovenian was dropped with nine kilometers to go to the top. Benoot encountered him on Col de la Loze. "He passed me only 800 meters from the top, and by then, I hadn't been riding too fast. I also heard in my earpiece that we had dropped him. Soler, who was in the breakaway, had to wait for him when he kept getting dropped. There was a little uphill section left, and I immediately passed him. He was running on empty."

The team's sporting director voiced similar sentiments to NOS. He also knows that there are still four stages to go before they can celebrate. "We still have to make it to Paris, but this lead should be enough. We didn't expect Pogacar to crack like this. Jonas gained a significant advantage yesterday, but he still finished second. He was still in good form, but today we could see that he didn't look as fresh anymore. It's really unfortunate for him to break like this, but for us in the race, it's naturally a positive development. I am very relieved because the Tour de France brings a lot of tension."

Did Jumbo-Visma single-handedly wear down their competitor? Zeeman isn't sure and doesn't really want to think about it yet. "It was an incredibly tough stage, and it was scorching hot. It's easy for me to say that it's due to our efforts that he cracked, because we did put a lot of energy into it. We'll never know if that's the reason or if it's something else entirely. The fact is that Jonas broke him, but I do have mixed feelings about the situation. He completely cracked today, and I don't think it's appropriate to cheer too loudly about that. We have tremendous respect for him as an opponent, and he is a fantastic cyclist. Maybe he had something else going on or maybe he is getting sick. That's also a possibility."