Tour de France: “No more riding in front!” – Should Jumbo-Visma and Emirates Team Emirates change tack?

Robbie McEwen and Adam Blythe say Jumbo-Visma and Team Emirates could change tactics at the 2023 Tour de France as teams struggle in opening week Both suffered counterproductive attacks. break away.

That means just 17 seconds separate Wengard, in the leader’s yellow jersey, and Pogacar, who is heading into Monday’s first rest day.

“It’s the aggressive drivers at the front that are paying the price,” McEwan stressed after stage nine.

“Today, Jumbo-Visma came out front again, did all the pace settings, and then Vingegaard lost time.

“By the time Pojacar’s team did that, he was out of time. At some point, they’ll realize and say ‘well, stop riding on the front line!'”

On the Puy de Dome climb on stage 9, Jumbo-Visma gained an extra second to give the breakouts an advantage of more than 16 minutes, ensuring that Pogacar could not take the stage win and gobble them up.

But Bryce said that while the UAE was willing to allow it this time, it was unlikely they would do it again. Pojacar was rewarded with 26 seconds in the opening week, 15 seconds more than Wengergaard.

“[Vingegaard] There are a lot of stages and a lot of extra seconds, and I think that’s going to play a role,” Bryce said.

“The UAE is delighted to have [gap to the breakaway] go out today. But one day, when it’s done on a similar climb, Tadeji is a better fit for them than Jonas, and they’ll say: ‘Oh, you want to give up the rest? Uh-uh. We’re going to bring it back because we know we’re faster. ”

“So they [Jumbo-Visma] One must be vigilant about this. ”

Bryce also wonders if Jumbo’s strategy has become a little more predictable.

“They knew they wanted to make life difficult for Jonas because they believed it was better for him,” he said.

“What was about to happen was almost inevitable – there were no surprises. The team did all the work, Sepp Kuss went up front, stepped up, and left everyone but two or three guys behind. Back, and then Jonas went on the attack. That didn’t happen today, Tadje went on the attack.

“There has to be a moment when Jumbo-Visma is going to say ‘well, we’re going to try something different. Even though we’ve got the yellow jersey, we’re going to try to rest a rider, we’re going to try to give the Emirates A little bit of pressure, but we’re not going to take responsibility, we’re going to push everything on them and make life difficult for them.”

Stage 10 of the Tour de France returns on Tuesday, with the hosts traveling from Vulcania to Issoire.

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