Visma | Lease a Bike pleased with resilience: Lemmen opts for the attack, Staune-Mittet up there with the best for long time

Lemmen found himself in the early breakaway, accumulating a significant number of mountain points. He was on track to claim the mountain jersey if he could survive one more climb, but unfortunately, it didn't materialize. The 28-year-old former military guy came up short, leaving him somewhat empty-handed. "Once again, we gave our all," team manager Grischa Niermann remarked proudly in a team press release.

In addition to Lemmen's efforts, Staune-Mittet also made his presence known at the front. The 22-year-old Norwegian managed to stay with the leaders in the general classification for a considerable time but eventually had to concede on the final climb. However, those efforts did not translate into a tangible result today. "Our intention was to feature in the breakaway, and we accomplished that," Niermann commented. "Other teams clearly aimed to intensify the race, making it challenging from the outset. Johannes put in a stellar performance today. He battled until the end, but ultimately fell short against the competition."

This leaves Visma | Lease a Bike somewhat stuck in the second tier. Staune-Mittet is currently in twentieth place in the overall classification as the team's top-ranked rider. In the mountain classification, Lemmen trails leader Juri Hollmann of Alpecin-Deceuninck by eleven points. Closing that gap on the final day on Sunday will be challenging, with four third-category climbs offering three mountain points each. Perhaps the final stage could still yield a positive result for riders like Tim van Dijke, who, with an explosive final lap, finds a course tailored to his strengths.