After Visma-Lease a Bike told everyone about the "Classics squad" they had brought to the 2025 Tour de France on Friday, they wasted no time putting the peloton to the sword in the crosswinds on stage 1, with leader Jonas Vingegaard committing fully to gain time on several of his rivals.
The men in yellow and black were on the front inside the final 20km, and with the plan made at the start of the day, they pulled full-tilt out of a change in road direction 17km from the line to make full use of the wind.
Vingegaard himself was on the front putting in a massive turn as the TV helicopter camera exposed the damage he, Matteo Jorgenson, Tiesj Benoot, and Edoardo Affini had done, with stage winner Jasper Philipsen's Alpecin-Deceuninck helping ensure the effort formed the splits they wanted.
While the likes of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) did miss out and lose 39 seconds, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was well up for the onslaught.
He had his right-hand man and Belgian champion Tim Wellens for company in the front echelon, the only thing preventing Visma from having a "perfect" day.
"We had a plan to accelerate at kilometre 164, and thankfully, we were together at that point, which was not a guarantee today, but we came together at the right moment and it worked," Matteo Jorgenson told reporters as he warmed down at the team bus.
"It's a good day, but it's just the first day of 21. I wouldn't say 39 seconds is going to be consequential, but it's a good sign that we're here to win. First battle, but the war is far from finished."
Visma's plan would have been made by Head of Racing Grischa Niermann, and he, too, was satisfied after the stage, again noting how the presence of Pogačar was the only thorn in the side of an otherwise perfectly executed plan.
"It's always good to take time on our opponents," added Visma's racing boss.
"It would have been a big boost if we had taken time on Tadej [Pogačar], but, of course, he was there, and there was never a moment where Jonas and Tadej were out of position."
Vingegaard and Jorgenson shared an embrace as they arrived at the bus post-stage, with the American beaming about his colleague's skills in the echelons, which isn't his typical mode of attack as a high mountains specialist.
"Jonas was impressive. I love seeing him fight in the crosswinds," said Jorgenson.
"It's so against his nature, but he's super strong and he can fight on any terrain. We definitely came to play these first 10 days."
Vingegaard himself was more modest as he spoke to the media with many fans gathered around the finish area, admitting that his team was simply striking first before anyone else could surprise them with a move in the wind.
"To be honest, it's either us or somebody else trying. At that moment, we knew the wind would come straight from the side, and we knew there was enough wind, so at that point, you might [as well] just be doing it yourself.
"Then you know you're on the front at least. That was our approach today, and we succeeded in that. The team did super well and kept me out of trouble at any point today."
The one setback
The one negative for Visma, however, was that amid their successes up in front, Giro d'Italia winner Simon Yates lost a lot of time: 6:31. So even if Pogačar's lieutenant João Almeida similarly lost time, albeit only 39 seconds, it will likely Visma now only have Jorgenson as a second option,.
With the squad they have, in any case it certainly won't be the last time Vingegaard puts the Classics specialists he has alongside him to work, and it seems these first 10 days of sprints and punchy stages could be the perfect route to try and disrupt Pogačar's place at the top of the unofficial Tour hierarchy.
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