Visma receive welcome boost before important Tour mountain weekend

Visma | Lease a Bike are moving closer to full strength ahead of a decisive weekend at the Tour de France, although the team remain uncertain whether every rider is ready to play a major role in their planned mountain offensive.

Jonas Vingegaard starts the fourteenth stage 3 minutes and 36 seconds behind yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar. With two demanding mountain stages arriving in succession, Visma will soon have to decide whether the moment has come to turn their ambition into action.

The first question is not about Vingegaard himself. It is about the riders around him.

Matteo Jorgenson has been recovering from illness, while Bruno Armirail is still dealing with the consequences of a crash earlier in the Tour. Both are important to Visma’s ability to control the race, place riders ahead of Vingegaard and maintain pressure on Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG squad.

Sports director Marc Reef said Friday’s thirteenth stage had offered encouraging signs.

“We are doing reasonably well,” Reef told In de Leiderstrui. “Things are getting better and better with Bruno. Matteo also felt a little better today, which was a good sign.”

Jorgenson’s condition remains the greater uncertainty. The American was kept away from the rest of the team as a precaution when he became unwell, and Visma have been careful not to place too much emphasis on one improved day.

“We still have to see how that develops over the next stages,” Reef said.

Friday’s stage was relatively calm for the general classification contenders. A large breakaway was allowed to establish itself, while several teams helped keep the race under control to prevent Tom Pidcock from threatening their positions further down the standings.

For Visma, the timing of Friday’s controlled stage could hardly have been better. Jorgenson and Armirail gained another day to recover, while the rest of the team were able to save valuable energy before the Tour returns to the mountains.

Encouraging signs, however, are not the same as full readiness.

Visma have repeatedly hinted at a tactical plan to put Pogačar under pressure. Executing it will require more than a strong Vingegaard. The team need several riders capable of surviving deep into the stage, giving them the numbers and flexibility to make the race difficult for UAE.

Reef admitted the team must first determine whether that is realistic.

“We have to see whether it is possible,” he said. “I have said before that everyone needs to be at full strength before we can really use the team in that way.”

“Step by step, things are improving, but we are not there yet. We are getting stronger. The riders are on their way back, but that takes time.”

That uncertainty is particularly significant given the contrasting demands of the next two stages.

“Saturday is an important day, just as Sunday will be very important,” Reef said. “Saturday is very irregular. From the top of the final climb, there are still six kilometres to the finish.”

Sunday presents a different test. The stage ends at the top of a longer and steeper ascent, creating a more direct contest between the leading climbers.

“Sunday has a longer climb, around half an hour, and it is quite steep,” Reef said. “It is a real summit finish.”

The contrast gives Visma several possible ways to approach the weekend. Saturday could be used to try to isolate Pogačar, place riders in an early move or force UAE to spend energy. Sunday is more likely to produce a direct confrontation between the main favourites.

Part of Visma’s confidence comes from the way Vingegaard handled the Tourmalet, a performance Bruno Armirail believes offered more encouragement than the final time gap suggested.

“We saw on the Tourmalet that Jonas did not reach the top with a very large deficit,” Armirail told In de Leiderstrui.

“The bigger difference was created on the faster section afterwards. If you look at the Tourmalet itself, he loses some time when Pogačar accelerates, but after that he is climbing at almost the same speed.”

The third week may also suit the Dane.

“Jonas is often better in the third week, so we will see what happens,” Armirail said. “We really have confidence in him.”

That confidence is balanced by uncertainty over recovery. Vingegaard raced the Giro d’Italia before the Tour, while high temperatures and accumulated fatigue have already made this edition especially demanding.

“We will see how Jonas recovers, how we recover and how Tadej recovers,” Armirail said.

“Jonas has ridden the Giro, so perhaps there will be some fatigue. The third week will be very difficult and we will do everything possible to achieve the best result we can.”

Armirail also praised Vingegaard’s influence inside the team, describing him as a leader who remains calm even as the pressure increases.

“He is a very calm rider and a very calm leader,” Armirail said. “He is very relaxed, which is good for the team.”

“It is better than having a leader who is constantly putting pressure on everyone. He is a good person and he has confidence.”

Visma chief executive Richard Plugge has already made the team’s wider objective clear, insisting earlier in the week that the race is not over and that Visma still have a plan to fight for the yellow jersey.

The more immediate issue is whether the team are physically ready to carry out that plan.

Saturday should provide the first real answer.