There’s little illusion about the task ahead, but no sign of surrender either at Team Visma | Lease a Bike. As the Tour de France enters its final phase, Jonas Vingegaard trails Tadej Pogačar by more than four minutes after two consecutive time losses on stages 12 and 13. Yet from inside the team, the message is clear: the race isn’t over, and they’re not just racing for second.
After Pogačar put time into Vingegaard in the final kilometre of Pla d’Adet, and again during the Tarbes time trial, it was easy to read the result sheet and conclude the GC is settled. But Sepp Kuss pushed back against that thinking.
“You have to be positive, otherwise we wouldn’t even start the Tour after the Dauphiné, you know?” said Kuss, referring to Vingegaard’s late start to the season and minimal preparation. “You can never be surprised anymore,” he added of Pogačar’s dominance.
The mood within the team is not one of despair. They remain pragmatic, knowing that time is slipping away, but they also point to the unpredictable nature of the Tour. Crashes, bad legs, splits in the bunch – these things can happen, and often do in the third week.
“It’s definitely a big deficit, and on paper you could say it’s over, but it’s bike racing. Anything can happen,” said Kuss. “We still have the hardest stages ahead of us.”
The approach now appears twofold: ride smart, stay aggressive, and seize any opportunity that arises. Whether that means chasing the yellow jersey or simply keeping Vingegaard on the podium remains open, but the squad’s commitment hasn’t changed.
Kuss explained their aggressive tactics on stage 12, when the team pushed hard on the Col du Soulor in an attempt to isolate Pogačar early.
“If we were all on a super good day, I think we could have done some damage there, but we had to pivot the strategy a bit,” he said. “We make our moves when it’s an equal effort for everybody. It’s not like we’re pulling the bunch for 200 kilometres.”
That effort on stage 12 didn’t have the intended effect. UAE Team Emirates had numbers and Pogačar simply rode away in the final metres. But within the Visma camp, the decision-making remains unapologetic.
Matteo Jorgenson echoed that view. “We’re doing our best in the race, and I’m really proud of how we’ve raced so far. I don’t think we should be disappointed,” said the American. “There’s nothing you can do if you give your best and keep fighting every day.”
Jorgenson himself bounced back on stage 13. After an off-day in the Pyrenees where he admitted he “gave up” early on the climbs, he finished sixth in the time trial, posting one of his strongest rides of the race.
“I was already really fighting full on the first climb,” he said of stage 12. “So I wanted to come around and prove to myself again that I had still good legs.”
He described the time trial as a necessary mental reset. “It was a good test. I was at least back to a level that I can be proud of today.”
Whether Jorgenson’s form uptick will translate into meaningful support for Vingegaard in the Alpine stages remains to be seen. But in a race that has tilted heavily toward Pogačar, every small gain could count. Team Visma | Lease a Bike aren’t counting on a miracle – but they’re still in the fight.
