Visma | Lease a Bike praise Van Aert’s work for Jorgenson after crash in Tirreno gravel stage
CyclingTuesday, 10 March 2026 at 21:15
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Follow us on GoogleVisma | Lease a Bike started Tuesday’s first road stage of Tirreno-Adriatico with ambition, as the peloton faced a decisive gravel section in the finale. Matteo Jorgenson was exactly where he needed to be — on the wheel of Mathieu van der Poel — but a crash knocked the American out of contention. Wout van Aert, meanwhile, was not able to ride for the stage win himself.
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For the Dutch squad, Steven Kruijswijk took responsibility for chasing the break during much of the day, before everything in the finale came down to positioning ahead of the key points. While Van Aert was forced backwards on the descent leading into the race-defining gravel sector, Jorgenson entered the section near the very front.
The American followed Van der Poel when the Dutchman attacked, but then slid out in a corner and was left trying to limit the damage. Van Aert, who had already had to fight his way back towards the front, then produced a strong turn on the front for Visma | Lease a Bike’s GC leader.
Continue reading below the video.
Visma | Lease a Bike sports director satisfied
“Compliments to the guys. They rode a good race,” Danish sports director Jesper Mørkøv said through the team’s own channels. “Steven spent much of the day riding on the front of the peloton, while Tim, Filippo and Owain made sure we started the gravel sector in a good position.”
“Matteo was where he wanted to be and was one of the few GC riders able to follow Mathieu. Unfortunately, Matteo lost grip and slid out in the corner. That was incredibly frustrating. After that, it was all about trying to limit the damage,” Mørkøv said, before also praising the role of Van Aert.
“Wout did a tremendous job to keep the gap to the leaders as small as possible. Matteo is now seventh overall, 31 seconds behind Isaac del Toro. In short, there is still a lot to fight for,” the sports director concluded.
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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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