Jumbo-Visma relieved after Vingegaard's minor time loss to Pogacar: "Maybe should have let Yates go"

Jonas Vingegaard remains in the yellow jersey after thirteen days of the Tour de France, but the Danish Jumbo-Visma rider did lose some time to rival Tadej Pogacar in the third consecutive mountain stage on Friday. Dylan van Baarle, Sepp Kuss and team director Grischa Niermann were unfazed by it.

"On the whole, I had a good day today," Van Baarle begins his analysis with NOS. "I don't know what happened in the finale, so I can't say much about it. We can't complain about eight seconds of time loss. On such a short and explosive day, Pogacar is simply incredibly strong. If Jonas can limit the damage to eight seconds, then we're satisfied with that."

Jumbo-Visma was a bit apprehensive about Pogacar's attack. "Certainly, we were afraid that the damage would be greater. He is so explosive, especially on a flat stage with one long climb. You can expect him to gain time, but Jonas did well to only lose eight seconds." Niermann agrees, as we can tell from his conversation with Eurosport: "It turned out to be a good day. This climb suited Pogacar, and although we unfortunately lost some time, we are still in the yellow jersey. This is what we expected. It was good that there weren't ten bonus seconds available. We'll keep fighting!"

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Perhaps Kuss should have let Adam Yates go

"That's great news," Kuss says when asked by NOS about Vingegaard's time loss. "In such an explosive finale, there's little you can do against Pogacar, so we should be happy with where we stand. We're leading this race, with the crucial stages coming up," says the American, who let Jumbo-Visma follow the pace set by UAE Team Emirates . "They set a good tempo, and we were fine with that. There was no reason for us to push harder, and we knew it would come down to the final kilometer."

In the end, Kuss emerged from his shell when Adam Yates accelerated, something he might have regretted a little afterwards. "Perhaps we should have let Yates go to snatch the final bonus seconds, but we stayed together, and then they went for it. We had everything under control." The confidence at Jumbo-Visma is high, especially with the Alps coming on Saturday and Sunday. "It will be a different stage, with longer climbs."

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Van Baarle had to compensate for Kelderman's off-day

The fact that Van Baarle was the best Jumbo-Visma rider on Friday, after Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss, provides good hope for the weekend in the Alps. "The intention is to support Jonas for as long as possible. I think Wilco (Kelderman, ed.) had a slightly weaker day, so I had to stay with him a bit longer. I saw him fade, and then I thought to myself, 'damn, now I have to do it.'"

Tiesj Benoot mentioned to Sporza that Van Baarle indeed had an excellent day. "I had good legs. Dylan and I had to stay with the leaders as long as possible. Dylan just said he felt good, so I could relatively easily come in and go easy on myself today," said the Belgian, who finished fourth from the breakaway on Thursday. Benoot is not concerned about the fact that Jumbo-Visma only had Kuss and Van Baarle left. "No, there were two of us among the top sixteen. When it comes to climbing, you have to rely on yourself. I think two men were enough for the climbs in case something happened. It was up to UAE to control the race."

That will likely be different in the Alps. "We chose a defensive approach this time. The upcoming stages should suit Jonas better. We saw that on the Puy de Dome. If the stage is relatively easy with an explosive, tough uphill finish, then that indeed plays to Pogacar's strengths," Benoot concluded.

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