Visma | Lease a Bike praise Van Aert’s work for Jorgenson after crash in Tirreno gravel stage

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.

“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.