Google News Patrick Lefevere on Jumbo-Visma performance: They come from another planet
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QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl boss Patrick Lefevere couldn't believe what he saw at the Vuelta e Espana. Jumbo Visma team beat Ineos Grenadiers to top spot on the timesheet by 13 seconds. Lefevere was surprised at how much strength and energy the Visma cyclists have.
"They come from another planet," Lefevere said for Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
"When I see how our boys took the corners, I wonder how the Jumbo riders did that. With a car, you would say: 'on two wheels'
I am not surprised by Jumbo-Visma's victory in itself, but by their lead.
14 seconds is a lot over 23 kilometres. He is still happy about his team's third place, even though there were mistakes that could have been avoided. "We have to be satisfied with third place, after a time trial that was almost perfect.
Along the way, we made one real mistake. Julian Alaphilippe peeled off the wrong side of the train once, against the instructions.
In any case, we finish in our place, with a squad that is certainly not specifically composed for the team time trial.
We opted for some more climbing profiles and not, for example, Josef Cerny, with whom you have extra horsepower in the time trial."
Dan Lloyd: Incredibly dominant display
Dan Lloyd is another one of those who was blown away by Jumbo Visma's performance.
He was worried about Primoz Roglic and his back. "It was an incredibly dominant display, really," Lloyd said talking about Jumbo-Visma's performance.
"When you look at the race results there, only two teams finished within half a minute of them by the end.
They finished with a complete team as well, which is quite ominous for the rest of this race. Primoz Roglic, his back looks to be okay at this stage as well, doesn't it?" Lloyd especially praised the move of his colleagues who let Robert Gesink cross the line first.
With this, they showed respect to an experienced rider who has been on the cycling scene for a long time. "I love the fact that they left Robert Gesink cross the line first, though, because he joined the team back in 2007 when it was called Rabobank, and he has been through every iteration since.
He is a guy that only works for other riders.
In fact, I was just looking and his last win came six years ago at this very race at the Vuelta a Espana in 2016."