Red Bull pass the Eulalio problem to Visma as illness becomes the real worry

Visma | Lease a Bike barely involved themselves in the chase for new pink jersey holder Afonso Eulalio during stage five. As a result, the Portuguese rider now sits over six minutes clear of the GC contenders. But the Dutch team are not worried — as they made clear to Cyclingnews.

Stage five was a brutal day. It rained for almost the entire stage, making for one of the hardest days any of these riders will face this year. Yet the GC teams largely called a truce in the finale. The peloton, still within two minutes of the break at the foot of the final climb, collectively sat up — and rolled in over seven minutes behind stage winner Igor Arrieta.

Eulalio, who finished second, had started the day just one minute back in the general classification — and now leads by over six minutes. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe briefly appeared to be working to limit the gap for their leader Giulio Pellizzari, but they too stopped chasing.

"We still had the resources available that we planned to have until this point, and of course we wanted to be in the downhill in a good position and use those guys in the best possible way," sporting director Christian Pömer told Cyclingnews after the finish. "We saw Lidl was struggling already at that point, and just to have control over the race situation and not get on the back foot."

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe therefore pointed firmly at Visma | Lease a Bike when asked about Eulalio's growing lead. "Our big goal here is the podium, and I think it's more up to Visma to be worried about this guy," Pömer said plainly. The Dutch team, for their part, were equally clear that they are not losing sleep over the Portuguese rider.

When asked directly whether the 6:22 deficit was at all concerning, Visma sporting director Marc Reef replied simply: "No." Reef was relaxed in his post-stage debrief. Vingegaard's biggest rival at this race, he said, is himself — by which the team meant the threat of illness circulating through the peloton. "I've already heard that there is already something going on in the bunch, with what I see and hear, that riders are not healthy. A day like this is for sure not helping in that sense, but we do what we can, and hopefully everybody stays healthy."

For Reef, that is the real concern heading into the race's first mountain stages. "We will have to see what the consequences are after a day like this." For the time being, everyone at Visma | Lease a Bike appears to be in good health.

"He only changed his jacket one time. He was not cold, he had good clothes, so all in all I think a good day for us," Reef added. Stage six also has rain in the forecast — so the riders' rain jackets will be staying close at hand for a while yet.