Speaking afterwards, Visma sports director Arthur van Dongen was keen to pick out Jorgenson in particular for praise, with the American still very much in GC contention himself after 10 stages, giving the team two cards to play, and forcing Pogacar to watch multiple Visma riders. “He’s incredibly important to us,” Van Dongen told Sporza in a post-stage interview. “We use him in every way we can.”“Did our plan work? I think so,” Van Dongen added, referring to the aggressive riding of the team in order to try and put the pressure on Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates – XRG. “It’s always nice to win a stage in the first week of the Tour. We wanted to be up front and talked about going for the stage. Victor Campenaerts could serve as a satellite rider during attacks, but the headwind made it difficult to make a real difference,” he concludes.
