Visma top talent Nordhagen surprised and loses overall victory: "That wasn't my goal either"

After a stunning and surprising victory by comeback kid Thomas Gloag in the queen stage, Visma | Lease a Bike played a marginal role in the final stage of the Tour of Czechia. Milan Vader was the team’s best rider, finishing in seventeenth place. In the Tour Alsace, the Visma | Lease a Bike Development team lost the overall victory in the final days.

The stage win went to Julian Alaphilippe. The Soudal-Quick Step climber found a course suited to his strengths on the final day. The finish town, Šternberk, featured a challenging local circuit with a cobbled climb of one kilometer at an average gradient of eight percent. The former world champion knew how to handle that and defeated overall winner Marc Hirschi and Sergio Higuita in a sprint from a thinned-out group.

Milan Vader finished commendably in seventeenth place for Visma | Lease a Bike in a group behind the leaders. The Italian Dario Belletta, a member of the Visma | Lease a Bike Development Team, finished right behind him. Shortly behind them, future professional team member Matthew Brennan made it three in a row. Despite the lack of top placements, team manager Robert Wagner praised his riders on the team’s website. "It was a short but tough stage. The wind played a significant role today. About forty kilometers from the finish, Soudal-Quick Step accelerated strongly. Matthew, Dario, and Milan were able to keep up with the pace. They raced well, but unfortunately, there was not more in it today."

Overall, Wagner reflects on a cautious start to what should be a strong autumn. "We can look back on a great tour. Of the four stages, we managed to win one with Gloag. Additionally, we won the team classification. This shows that we delivered a solid collective performance. I hope this Czech Tour was a good preparatory race for the upcoming events. We’re looking forward to that."

Nordhagen misses overall victory after missing escape in penultimate stage

In the Tour de Alsace, Jørgen Nordhagen was unable to secure the overall victory after his impressive double win on Friday at La Planche des Belles Filles. The Norwegian from the Visma | Lease a Bike Development Team missed a strong group in the penultimate stage on Saturday, dropping to third place in the general classification. The damage could not be repaired in the final flat stage. "Overall, it was a good race, even though we wanted to keep the leader’s jersey," Nordhagen reflected after the race with DirectVelo. "A third place is still a good result. I didn’t come here for the general classification. I focused everything on the stage at Planche des Belles Filles. That was the main goal. I won, and I’m happy. I’ve been training well with my team over the past few weeks; I was in good shape."

"Yesterday (Saturday) I was simply not strong enough to stay at the top of the general classification," Nordhagen continued. "It’s not always easy against so many competitors. I’m going home, I’ll rest a bit, and prepare for the next races with the Development Team." In the end, the best Visma rider in the classification was Colby Simmons, the younger brother of Lidl-Trek rider Quinn Simmons. While Nordhagen missed out in the fourth stage, the American was attentive. It earned him a second place in the final classification, almost a minute behind the Frenchman Joris Delbove.

"Of course, it’s disappointing because we lost the leader’s jersey yesterday, and that was the main goal," Simmons countered. "It was confusing because we didn’t know who was in the breakaway group. I tried to ride as calmly as possible. It would have been better if Nordhagen had been in the group, but it could have been worse if we hadn’t had anyone in the breakaway. In the end, I can be satisfied with my second place." Simmons will also participate in the Tour de l'Avenir later this season, where riders compete for their country rather than their team. "We’ll have a strong selection there with good climbers and the intention to aim for the general classification. I’ll help them," concluded Simmons.

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