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Follow us on GoogleThe 2026 Tour de France is off to a flying start. Visma | Lease a Bike immediately dealt the competition its first blow in Barcelona with Jonas Vingegaard. Notably, Matteo Jorgenson—who was the Dutch team’s second rider just last year—lost two and a half minutes. Marc Reef, the future Head of Racing, explained to IDL Pro Cycling why that happened at the team bus.
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It was already noticeable during the reconnaissance: the last three riders to race past the Olympic Stadium were Sepp Kuss, Davide Piganzoli, and, of course, Vingegaard. While teams like Lidl-Trek—“we’re going for Mads Pedersen,” who ultimately lost 4 minutes—were pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, that wasn’t the case with the Dutch team.
Marc Reef responds nonverbally to our open-ended question—“To what extent is Jorgenson’s time loss a setback?”—by shaking his head. Verbally: “No, definitely not. The most important thing for us was that we would win this stage,” said the team leader of the winning squad, Visma | Lease a Bike.
Read more below the photo!
Matteo Jorgenson lost 2.5 minutes and is not competing for a place in the general classification.
Jorgenson had to do all his work on the first few meters of the incline
Jorgenson’s role—who could just as easily have been the shadow team leader—came earlier in the race. “Above all, we wanted our big guys with plenty of power to make the difference on the flat sections. As soon as the road went uphill, it was time for other riders, like Matteo, to take over. That worked out very well,” Reef concludes.
After Jorgenson—who had fallen two and a half minutes behind—it was up to the climbers Kuss and Piganzoli on the steeper sections, who finished 1.58 minutes and 28 seconds behind Vingegaard, respectively. “We believed this strategy would bring us closest to victory, and we felt it would allow us to conserve Jonas’s energy more effectively. It worked out well.”
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Tom van der Salm (27) comes from the charming town of Zeilberg (Deurne) in the Netherlands and has been working as editor-in-chief & journalist at IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, In de Leiderstrui, since 2019. He travels with the peloton from the Tour de France to the AlUla Tour and from the World Championships in Rwanda or Canada to the Zilvermeercross in Mol. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, mountain biking, running, walking with his Labrador/Stabyhoun, investing, holidays, (specialty) beers, reading, cooking and watching sports & documentaries!
Contact: [email protected]
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Latest Comments
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- - While others are relaxing on their boats… he’s grinding gravel. Legend. Go VB77!michael5405-10-2026
- - That 56 km first leg looks like a shakeout ride. Does he plan to split it over 3–4 days? Heat/humidity in SEA is brutal—electrolytes will be key.sprocketspiny05-10-2026
- - “Undertakeke” made me laugh but edit pls. Also, is the course in Nannup more climby or flat farm roads? Would’ve suited Valtteri’s diesel engine, I reckon.julien05-10-2026
- - Tiffany Cromwell shoutout is deserved. They recon together and you can see her influence in his pacing and position on dirt. Great duo.pedalpowe2905-10-2026
- - How long does a 350 km gravel ride take between GPs? Is he riding solo with a support car, or fully self-supported? Curious about recovery before FPjennifer1905-10-2026
- - Small correction: he raced Gravel Worlds in 2023, right? Article says 2024 but we’re still before that event? Timing feels a bit off. Otherwise good read.raceready705-10-2026
- - Love this crossover. Fifth in Hlinsko to qualy for Worlds is no joke—those UCI gravel fields are stacked. Shame the Singapore GP clash means he can’t start in Nannup, but riding KL to Singapore on a gravel rig between races is peak Bottas.cadencekingm05-10-2026
- - Isaac was immense pero al final el arcoíris es de Brandon. Qué carrera, emoción total. Bravo Mexico y USA!patriciaw05-10-2026
- - Not buying the “Del Toro was strongest” line. If you’re strongest, you don’t let it come to a sprint you can’t win. Feels like Matxin’s spinning it after the fact.bikebuffj05-10-2026
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