Visma | Lease a Bike prepares for Alps showdown against Tadej Pogacar; “No guarantees"

Wout van Aert made a brief attempt in the final stage, but was unable to break away. After that, it was mainly a matter of getting the men of the yellow and black team safely to Valence, which they successfully accomplished.

“The finale was chaotic due to the rain, but the guys made sure I was always in a good and safe position,” said Vingegaard via his team's channels. “We can look back on a good day for us.”

Next up for Vingegaard are the Alps. “Tomorrow might be the hardest stage of this Tour. We’ve got three hors catégorie climbs ahead of us, so it’s going to be extremely tough.”

"Today wasn’t an easy stage," said Grischa Niermann, Head of Racing at the team. "We wanted to race aggressively again, but of course we were also mindful of the tough stages coming up."

“The guys already gave a lot yesterday in the Ventoux stage, and they’ll do so again in the days to come. There’s no guarantee of success, but we’ll do everything we can to get the most out of it,” Niermann assured.

Pogacar also indicated after the stage that he expects this. “We can expect Visma | Lease a Bike to try to go with the breakaway and go all out on every climb. Later, on the Col de la Loze, they will do everything they can to drop me.”