Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS will no longer release radio recordings: "Compromises race strategy"

Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS Grenadiers will no longer be heard through radio recordings during stage broadcasts of this and possibly future editions of the Tour de France. The two cycling powerhouses see too many disadvantages in the initiative, which has been in place since the 2023 Tour.

"I'm gone. I'm dead." Tadej Pogacar's radio message in the final week of the 2023 Tour de France was an iconic moment. We will not be hearing radio messages like that again from Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS Grenadiers. This is despite the fact that the Dutch team, according to podcast maker and former professional cyclist Laurens ten Dam, was the one who initiated the project. "The deal was struck by Richard Plugge, for 5,000 euros per team they released their radio," said the Dutchman in the podcast Live Slow Ride Fast.

However, Tour organizer ASO has misused the situation. "The agreement was that no tactical information would be released on television so that other teams could see it. That deal was made, but Visma | Lease a Bike is now pulling out because they believe tactical information has been released. For example, we saw a segment a week ago from INEOS Grenadiers, where Castroviejo had spoken with UAE, who wanted to keep everything together for Pogacar's stage win. That's quite relevant, of course."

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Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS no longer trust the ASO

Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS No Longer Release Radio Recordings: 'It Compromises Race Strategy'

Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS Grenadiers will no longer be heard through radio recordings during stage broadcasts of this and possibly future editions of the Tour de France. The two cycling powerhouses see too many disadvantages in the initiative, which has been in place since the 2023 Tour.

"I'm gone. I'm dead." The radio message from Tadej Pogacar in the final week of the 2023 Tour de France was an iconic moment. Such radio messages will no longer be seen from Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS Grenadiers. This is despite the fact that the Dutch team, according to podcast maker and former professional cyclist Laurens ten Dam, was the one who initiated the project. "The deal was struck by Richard Plugge, for 5,000 euros per team they released their radio," said the Dutchman in the podcast Live Slow Ride Fast.

However, Tour organizer ASO has misused the situation. "The agreement was that no tactical information would be released on television so that other teams could see it. That deal was made, but Visma | Lease a Bike is now pulling out because they believe tactical information has been released. For example, we saw a segment a week ago from INEOS Grenadiers, where Castroviejo had spoken with UAE, who wanted to keep it together for Pogacar's stage win. That's quite relevant, of course."

Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS no longer trust the ASO

In an interview with Cycling Weekly, Jasper Saeijs, marketing manager of Visma | Lease a Bike, had already indicated that the team was not happy with some radio recordings that were broadcast on television in 2023. After the nineteenth stage, Saeijs confirmed that Visma and INEOS would no longer release radio files for stages 19, 20 and 21. "We've had many discussions about strategies being shared and whether it affected the race or not. We think this needs to be better aligned in the future."

A team of three people receives audio files from fifteen teams that agreed to participate in each stage. Each team received 5,000 euros from the organization. There is a delay of fifteen to thirty minutes on the recordings, but sensitive information was shared too often. "We don't have a problem with the ASO, but we do see it differently. We can't trust the process for the coming stages, that those responsible will make the right choices about what is strategy and what isn't, and whether it affects our race outcome. That's why we've called it off for now. We'll look at how we can do it better later."

Visma | Lease a Bike emphasizes that they support the initiative to involve fans more in the race. "But it can't come at the expense of our race strategy, and we believe that was happening too much. We're not the only team. There are others who don't like it either."