Jumbo-Visma passed the red jersey off like a rugby ball through the opening four days of the Vuelta a España before opting to kick for touch on stage 5 to Bilbao.
After Primož Roglič’s show of strength at Laguardia on Tuesday, the Dutch squad looked to manage their resources on the Vuelta’s second day in the Basque Country, ceding the overall lead to Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ).
As Roglič and Jumbo-Visma know too well from their April excursions to Itzulia Basque Country, controlling a bike race in this verdant corner of the world is easier said than done.
Some 50km were covered in the first hour of a stage with five classified climbs, and the day’s break eventually forged clear a little over a third of the way through. Jumbo-Visma maintained a patrolling brief at the head of the bunch, but they gradually allowed the break’s lead to yawn outwards over the twin ascents of the Alto del Vivero.
Roglič reached Bilbao safely in the body of the peloton, 5:09 behind stage winner Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates). In the overall standings, the Slovenian drops to fifth overall, 4:09 behind Molard, though he remains the best-placed of the men with designs on final victory in Madrid.
Speaking to reporters past the finish line, Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Grischa Niermann confirmed that his team had been glad to rid themselves of the maillot rojo, at least temporarily.
“Obviously yes, it was ok for us,” Niermann said. “We expected a lot of attacking to go in the break and that was the case. And it was a good break to give the jersey to. We are happy to do so because controlling for three weeks in a row will be hard.
“Every day that our guys can relax a little bit and let another team take over is nice for us. It was a good day for us, but that breakaway would have been pretty hard to pull back anyway. We made a decision, and we knew in advance it would be ok to give the jersey away.”
Niermann’s thoughts were echoed by his colleague Addy Engels, who explained that the make-up of the thirteen-man breakaway had convinced Jumbo-Visma to knock off the pace and concede the jersey. Earlier in Roglič’s development, his team made the costly decision to yield the maglia rosa to Richard Carapaz on the 2019 Giro d’Italia, but Engels maintained that Wednesday’s break did not feature a dangerman of similar stature.
“For us the most important thing was who would be in the break. If it was someone who could be a threat for the GC, then it would…
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