Zonneveld sees missed chance in van der Poel dropping green jersey ambitions: "I don’t understand why you don’t just finish sixth"

"I was amazed that van der Poel didn't sprint in the intermediate sprint because green is a realistic option to win in Paris, with the stages that are left and the chances van der Poel has to score a lot of points. Others can't do that just like that, but van der Poel has to gather points. That means accumulating points in intermediate sprints and stages from now until Paris,“ said Zonneveld. ”A bit like Peter Sagan was very good at because then you don't have to win five stages or the intermediate sprints."

Van der Poel didn't do that, and he still isn't doing it. "I don't understand why you wouldn't just finish sixth in such a quiet stage, in an intermediate sprint where only five riders contested the sprint. That sends a very important signal about what he thinks of the green jersey and how realistic he thinks his chances of winning are. If van der Poel had sprinted, he would have finished third or maybe second. Then he would have scored a lot of points."

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Sidekick Jip van den Bos remains hopeful after the eighth stage and believes that Alpecin-Deceuninck simply wanted to go all out for Kaden Groves in the sprint in stage 8. However, the Australian rider failed to deliver, so the Belgian team could now go all out for van der Poel. Too little, too late, thinks Zonneveld. “Then you've thrown away a stage because most of the points are available in the sprint stages. He threw away 20 or 30 points on Saturday.”

And, as Zonneveld says, "I don't think there's any room to skip points. So, I think the team has already decided that van der Poel isn't going to push himself to the limit for another two weeks to gather points. The goal is to win stages because there are still two or three chances for him. And Pogacar will also finish at the front in those stages, while he will also pick up a million points in the mountain stages. The Tour is developing very unfavorably for sprinters and punchers."

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Zonneveld, therefore, also sees a clear thought process on the part of Alpecin-Deceuninck. 'Pogacar already has so many points, and half of where he can really pick up points for green is still to come. It's no surprise that Girmay considers him the favorite for the green. But if van der Poel had picked up 30 points on Saturday, he would now sit above Girmay in the points ranking and about 20 points behind Pogacar. That would have been possible to catch up, but then you have to race for it every day."

However, van der Poel was already well past boiling point on the Mûr-de-Bretagne on day 7, after seven incredibly tough days of attacking, fighting for stages, and wearing yellow. “I think he has indicated that he is not going to keep that up for another two weeks. It will cost him stages, and he is not willing to pay that price. He would rather win another stage than have a chance at the green jersey. That ship has sailed, and I find that surprising. After two stage wins and wearing the yellow jersey, I think it would add something if he won the green jersey.”