Thumbs-up for Christophe Laporte after intense training block in Andalusia: “Shows he’s in good shape”

“It was a tough day,” sports director Marc Reef concluded afterwards. On the Puerto de la Cabra, the race split to pieces and only Matisse Van Kerckhove managed to stay at the front. The rest of the team stayed with Laporte and tried to bring him back into the peloton.

“Once we’d made contact again, we immediately went to the front to keep the pace high. At that point, Romeo and Leknessund had already gone,” Reef continued. The two time-trial specialists ultimately stayed away, despite the efforts of several big teams to close the gap.

“We did everything we could to win this stage, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Chapeau to Romeo and Leknessund. If multiple teams can’t manage to bring it back, then they more than deserve it.”

Laporte finished in the group behind. “It shows he’s in good shape and can handle a course like this,” Reef said, already looking ahead to Friday. “The stage starts hard, but the finale should be manageable. We’ll once again do everything we can to be in the fight for the stage win.”

In the UAE Tour, Thursday ended in a bunch sprint for the stage win — and Visma | Lease a Bike were not seen contesting the finale. “We’re here with a strong group, but with different objectives. These are days you simply have to get through well, and we managed that,” sports director Maarten Wynants explained.

“We were able to save some energy today. That wasn’t the case for the sprint teams — they had to ride all the way to the finish. The five guys out front really made it difficult for them.”

Friday should again suit the fast men, but Wynants expects a different day: “We’re heading into the desert, so wind and the high temperatures could play a role.” The key stage for the team comes on Saturday with the finish on Jebel Hafeet. “That’s our most important stage still to come. We’ll do everything we can there to hold on to our top placing in the general classification.”