Tour de France: 'Let them fry themselves' - Ineos star Luke Rowe 'very surprised' at Jumbo-Visma tactics
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Published 13/07/2023 at 17:37 GMT
Jumbo-Visma may have control of the 2023 Tour de France but their approach to defending it has left some observers a little confused – including Ineos Grenadiers star Luke Rowe, who joined Eurosport's coverage on Thursday. Jonas Vingegaard holds a 17-second lead over Tadej Pogacar ahead of three big mountain tests that could very well decide the fate of the yellow jersey.
Ineos star Rowe 'very surprised' by Jumbo-Visma's aggressive defence of yellow jersey
UAE Team Emirates will be happy to let Jumbo-Visma "fry themselves" in their ultra-aggressive defence of the yellow jersey, according to Ineos Grenadiers star Luke Rowe.
Gone are the days of Team Sky, now Ineos, sucking the soul out of the Tour de France with their unbreakable mountain train. Instead, Jumbo-Visma have adopted an unusual approach to defending the overall lead for Jonas Vingegaard – all out attack.
Those tactics have already prompted serious scepticism at various points in the Tour. EF Education-EasyPost boss Jonathan Vaughters said their plan to "kill" the race on Stage 6 backfired, while their relentless pace on the front was questioned again on Stage 9 when it inadvertently teed up rival Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) to take back time.
Undeterred, they dived straight into Stage 12's chaotic start by sending Wout van Aert, and then Tiesj Benoot, up the road – often leaving Vingegaard playing the unfamiliar role of closing down gaps on the front of a shredded peloton. UAE were happy to be involved too, with Pogacar looking lively in the Dane's wheel.
Rowe dialled into The Breakaway after Thursday's stage and said that while Jumbo-Visma's "flamboyant" tactics were a better spectacle, it was not the smartest way to defend the leader's jersey.
Asked if he was surprised at how the Dutch team had ridden so far, Rowe said: "Yeah, very surprised actually.
"We had a bit of a different take on that back in the day when we were controlling the jersey. It was all for one cause and that was purely and solely bringing that yellow jersey home.
"Whereas they've gone a bit more flamboyant which is good to watch on TV, good from a spectator viewpoint, but in terms of purely winning the Tour de France I wouldn't be letting any of my team-mates go in the break.
"You would say 'right, we all stay with the yellow jersey every step of the way'. You can see how active the starts are and how unafraid Pogacar is to move, so I would have the numbers there with him the whole time just to put any situation that could go wrong, right."
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'The most bonkers thing is what UAE and Jumbo were doing' - Unpicking the madness on Stage 12
Vingegaard will take a 17-second lead over Pogacar into Friday's trip up Grand Colombier, the first of three big mountain tests on the spin.
"I think today there were a few head-scratcher moments from a couple of teams," continued Rowe.
"But certainly to race against that, I think you can simplify it. If you're a rival to Jumbo you just let them do what they want to do and every guy up the road, on a day like today, is irrelevant. You just think 'happy days'.
"Tiesj Benoot is a guy who is going to be needed the next three days and he's spent more pennies than someone like [UAE riders] Rafal Majka or Matteo Trentin.
"I think if you're a rival to Jumbo, you say 'alright boys, let them go, crack on, let them race to the death and fry themselves before the next few days'."
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