“We had the idea that Vingegaard would participate”

“We had the idea that Vingegaard would participate” – Ciclismo Internacional

With the Tour de France just around the corner, Team Visma – Lease a Bike has announced its line-up, led by two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard. Joxean Matxin, director of UAE Team Emirates, shared his thoughts on this powerful rival team in an interview with Cycling News.

“He is a rider who has won the Tour for the last two years and has to be motivated to try to win the best race in the world again. I have no doubt that even if he only had a 10% chance of winning, I would have done the same… You want to know how you are, what your level is compared to your rivals,” stated Matxin regarding Vingegaard.

Matxin also addressed his own team’s strategy regarding this announcement: “We had already planned everything with our eight riders for the Tour in the training camp in December and we already had the idea that Jonas Vingegaard would participate. So we haven’t changed our perspective at all,” he stated.

The UAE Team Emirates director stressed the importance of focusing on his own team: “We remain focused on what we do, rather than thinking about what our rivals might do. We have to take into account who they are, of course, but we have to work on what we can work on, and that is our team.”

As for Pogacar, Matxin explained that the Slovenian cyclist is totally focused on his preparation: “Tadej is concentrating on his work, on his training and on doing things as best as possible to reach the Tour at 120%,” he expressed.

Finally, Matxin recognized the strength of the Visma team, highlighting the importance of his lineup and Van Aert: “The fact that he was not able to go to the Giro because of that fall means that he has had to change direction and head towards the Tour . The entire team is going to be tremendously important. “They won all three grand tours in 2023, how could they not be important this year in the Tour,” he pointed out.

Fernando Estupiñán

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