Visma | Lease a Bike celebrate in Paris–Nice, having seen ‘a very strong Jonas’ — but there is praise after Tirreno too

In Paris–Nice, Jonas Vingegaard was the strongest rider on a brutally hard day. He made the first echelon immediately, although things did not unfold exactly as planned. “"We weren't exactly in a great situation,” sports director Marc Reef said in his assessment on the team website. “We had hoped that several of our riders would be there if the peloton split up in the wind, but luckily Edo was able to protect Jonas all day.”

The situation improved significantly for Vingegaard in the finale. After race leader Juan Ayuso crashed, the Dane found himself up the road with a group made up of Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe riders. On the wheel of, among others, Tim and Mick van Dijke, the advantage over the chasers grew, before Vingegaard finished it off on the final climb in typically controlled fashion. The yellow jersey now sits firmly on the climber’s shoulders.

Reef said the performance showed exactly how strong Vingegaard is right now. “After the crash, Jonas took the lead with four riders from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. At that point, he didn't have to do anything else. On the climb, he showed that he was the best. We can be very happy with the result. We saw a very strong Jonas. In the coming days, we will do everything we can to defend the jersey.”

In Italy, it was a far less hectic day. Tirreno–Adriatico’s longest stage ended in a bunch sprint, and Visma | Lease a Bike were never involved in that fight for the win. Even so, sports director Jesper Mørkøv was satisfied afterwards. “We rode a good stage,” he said. “It was a relatively straightforward route today, although the weather conditions still made it a bit more tricky. Our plan was to try and take some bonus seconds with Matteo [Jorgenson].”

“That just did not quite work out, because the sprint teams were involved there as well. After that, it was up to the team to bring Matteo safely to the finish. They did that well. A compliment to the riders. Tomorrow will bring another opportunity, but it will be tougher with the climbs along the way.” Stage 4 of Tirreno–Adriatico features around 2,800 metres of elevation gain, with a demanding finale into Martinsicuro.