Geraint Thomas has questioned the "ballistic" tactics of Jumbo Visma on stage 6 of the Tour de France, saying his team - in its peak 'Team Sky' era - never made the mistakes the Dutch team did yesterday.
Thomas believed Jumbo Visma were too "confident" and even a bit "cocky" or "arrogant", adding they had gone on the attack hoping that Jonas Vingegaard could gain more time on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). Instead, they only succeeded in setting up Pogačar to turn the tables on them and ride himself back in the race.
They had also allowed Pogačar gain back his confidence, which was "dangerous". Thomas, 2nd in the Giro in May, also noted the Slovenian had been feigning a bad day on Thursday's stage 6 - after actually having one on Wednesday's stage 5 - and Jumbo Visma had fallen for it "hook, line and sinker".
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However, Thomas also said the rivalry between Pogačar and Vingegaard made for great racing; possibly the best he could remember since he started cycling as a 12-year-old. He also believed if Vingegaard had not emerged in the last few years as such a strong rival of Pogačar's in the Tour, Pogačar would be so dominant by now people would "hate" him, as happen with "Froomey" - Thomas's former team mate Chris Froome.
Criticism of Jumbo Visma on stage 6
Thursday's stage 6 on the Tour took in the climbs of Col d'Aspin followed by Col du Tourmalet and then onto the final climb to the finish at Cauterets-Cambasque. Jumbo Visma had Wout van Aert in the breakaway. Van Aert rode hard in a bid to remain off the front until after the top of the Tourmalet in the hopes he could then help Vingegaard get away from Pogačar.
Jumbo Visma set a blistering pace on the Tourmalet, and Vingegaard even rode very hard on the descent in a bid to drop Pogačar and catch Van Aert without him. But they were unable to get rid of the Slovenian. When they moved onto the final climb and it came down to just Vingegaard and Pogačar, the Dane continued to ride on the front with his rival in his wheel.
However, Pogačar then attacked Vingegaard; dropping him to win the stage solo and gain back 28 seconds on the stage. Thomas said he could not understand why Jumbo Visma felt the need to ride so hard so early in the race.
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He added Vingegaard had over 50 seconds on Pogačar at the start of the stage and Jumbo Visma should have allowed Bora-hansgrohe, who had the yellow jersey with Jai Hindley, do most of the work.
"When Jonas went, he went full gas on the Tourmalet," 2018 Tour winner Thomas said on his own podcast, Watts Occurring. "He really wanted to drop Pog, couldn't, and then continued on the descent. He proper went down that descent, trying to drop Pog."
Thomas added Jumbo Visma was clearly hoping Vingegaard would gap Pogačar, even by a few seconds, before catching Van Aert. He said the team hoped Van Aert could then tow Vingegaard to the base of the final climb, where the Danish rider would gain even more time on Pogačar.
"It was a brilliant plan on paper and the team set it up brilliantly," Thomas said. "But I just think Jumbo were way too confident, they were just a bit cocky, a bit arrogant, whatever word you want to use. It's easy for me to say sat here, but watching it at the time… For me they should have been 'right, let's consolidate'," he said.
Thomas insisted there was no need for Jumbo Visma and Vingegaard to go after Pogačar again just because he had suffered "a bad day" the previous day.
"They went for the jugular… It's stage 6 of a 21-day race, there's no need to go… They were riding like it was stage 18 or 19 and they needed to get some time back. He's 50 odd seconds in front, there's absolutely no need to ride like that.
"It's great for the race, it's great to watch. But, you know, people had a go at us back in the Sky days; being boring and blah blah blah. But we won seven Tours. They (Jumbo Visma) are still leading now, but they could quite easily lose this one.
"And it's about winning the race. It's about being conservative. And attacking at the right time - and being ballsy, there's nothing wrong with being ballsy. But I just feel like it was way too aggressive, especially this early on."
