Can Visma still win the Tour de France through team tactics? Bruyneel laughs it off: "There's no one else then"

Johan Bruyneel and George Hincapie discussed the Dauphiné and the Tour de France in their podcast THEMOVE. The latter, former American pro, admitted to being slightly disappointed by Pogacar’s dominance. “After the time trial I thought, wow, do we actually have a race on our hands? Who knows what happened to Pogacar, but he didn’t look great compared to the other favorites. That made it exciting, but then to see him ride away like that in the mountains from Vingegaard and Remco…”

Visma | Lease a Bike did show up strong, not just with team leader Vingegaard, but also with Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, and Ben Tulett putting in top performances in the mountains. Still, Bruyneel argues that none of that really matters. “With guys like these, teams aren’t that important. Visma may be stronger. Maybe with their numbers they can isolate Tadej. But the point is, then Tadej attacks. And you’re still left with just two guys. There’s no one else then.”

Hincapie was frustrated by how Visma | Lease a Bike tried to break the Slovenian. “Those tactics don’t work, trying to make the race hard to wear out his legs. That only plays into his strengths.” So how can the Killer Bees crack the world champion? Simple: win or die trying, treat every stage like a one-day race. “They need to ride as if second or third place doesn’t matter. You go all-in for the win, or nothing at all.”

Back in 2022, Pogacar was cracked by a brilliant tag-team move between Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic. By attacking one after the other, UAE’s leader was left with nothing on the Col du Granon. But pulling that off this time will be harder. “The only one they might be able to play that game with is Matteo Jorgenson. He’s a threat, but UAE will always have João Almeida and Adam Yates in reserve, and those two are operating at about the same level,” said the former team manager.

Because Pogacar is now so much stronger than before, Visma | Lease a Bike will have to come up with new ideas. “They can only benefit if it’s not an uphill finish, or if there’s a lot of terrain between the climbs. If the stage ends on a mountain, the team doesn’t matter anymore. When Pogacar accelerates, only Jonas can follow. Then the question is: how long can he hold on? For everyone’s sake, I hope the gap is a bit smaller in the Tour.”

Normally, no one will be able to match the defending champion’s level. Pogacar is expected to take his fourth Tour victory, but Bruyneel warns against overconfidence. “Tadej Pogacar’s biggest enemy is Tadej Pogacar. If he rides smart and attacks when it matters... after what I saw at the Dauphiné, I don’t know how close anyone can really get to him.”