Yellow and black species spinning at full speed in the middle of nature at the start of spring? Global warming may consume our environment slowly, but you are not yet likely to see bees (or wasps, take your pick) this Sunday around Vieux-Quaremont, on the occasion of the Tour of Flanders. No, these big two-tone beasts that will come to forage on the Belgian mountains, they are the riders of the Jumbo-Visma.
With five victories in six races (two successes for Christophe Laporte, one for Wout Van Aert, one for Dylan Van Baarle and another for Tiesj Benoot), the Dutch team is on another planet in this blessed time of the classics. But, beyond the results, it is the way in which they are acquired that impresses. The sergeants who go on observation, the generals who attack about fifty kilometers from the finish and the battalion (or almost) which ends arm in arm, as during the parade at Van Aert and Laporte during Ghent-Wevelgem.
Not surprising, according to Tom Leezer, rider of the Jumbo-Visma until 2020, who has already been able to observe the beginnings of this total cycling: “We had already tried these kinds of strategies, but they are only really effective since the last year and increased a little this year. You had to have riders strong enough to be able to use this tactic, and I don’t think we had them. Today there is a great team with riders capable of executing this plan. “Yes, because if the yellow and black team can afford this kind of tactic, it is mainly because it has the best runners in the world. Or almost.
A single watchword, anticipate
For example, on the Ronde, this Sunday the Jumbo will present itself with Wout Van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Chistophe Laporte or Nathan Van Hooydonck. That is as many riders as would be leaders in any other team. “When you assemble great runners, the strategy is easy”, analyzes the ex-runner Sébastien Chavanel. With a mantra: group anticipation. Attack 52 km from the finish for Laporte and Van Aert during Gand Wevelgem, attack by Benoot and Laporte 54 km from the line during A Travers la Flandre. Without forgetting the famous stage of the Tour de France, last year, where the Batavians overthrew Pogacar.
“With this collective strength, they spangle the race early, put it everywhere and afterwards, they play the fact of being in excess, estimates the king of the attack Pierre Rolland, now consultant for The chain L’Equipe. On these classics, where there are small roads, if a team puts the cursor very high, if we are badly placed or have a technical problem, it’s over. This racing strategy is admired by Laurens De Vreese, former teammate of Mathieu Van Der Poel at Alpecin:
I really like this way of running, and it’s above all very intelligent. The earlier they attack, the more the end result of the race depends on them, and the easier it is for them to control the race. On the Tour of Flanders, for example, if you do nothing before the second passage of the Paterberg [à 50 km de l’arrivée], you take the risk that guys have good legs and accompany you to the finish line. You can’t take that risk when you have the best riders and the best team. »
“They are at the forefront”
And, who says best team, also says best staff. Because sports directors leave nothing to chance, as Christophe Laporte confided to The Team after his success on A Travers la Flandre: “Everything is dissected, everything is planned. The race is divided into three phases: a control phase and several action phases where everyone knows what to do precisely. We always have plans A, B and C. All scenarios are taken into account. »
And we understood, on Wednesday, seeing two assistants in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the road in Ladeuze, barely a few kilometers after the attack on Benoot and Laporte, that everything was going according to established plans. “They have a very relevant strategy, with a special approach, enormous preparation, very good equipment, continues Pierre Rolland. They are on the cutting edge. And, despite this robotic side, the Jumbo Visma does not skimp on the care given to humans.
“The problem with teams that operate on one or two riders is that we feed the ego of one or two individuals. There, we feed everyone’s ego, develops Sébastien Chavanel. they are very interested in the individual, to put him in confidence and that he fully expresses his potential. For me, it’s more a question of management than something miraculous. Everyone eats a piece of the cake. The best illustration is Van Aert letting Laporte win at Ghent-Wevelgem. “A gesture that allows the Frenchman to live” his childhood dream “and Van Aert to ensure that everyone is invested during the biggest deadlines where he will really be on the front line.
An individual feat to counter collective strength?
So, for the opponents, how to deal with the Avengers of cycling? Our speakers have their own idea, even if they assure that it will be almost mission impossible to counter the Jumbo. “A breakaway with around fifteen riders, with a few outsiders starting from very far away, Jumbo-Visma could have problems controlling, advises Laurens De Vreese. If the other teams are smart, they don’t help the Jumbo hunt, and that can be complicated for them. »
For Sébastien Chavanel, “the other teams are trapped anyway. If there’s Benoot ahead, or Van Hooydonck or Laporte, it’s almost already too late. Today, there is no team that can collectively compete with Jumbo. The difference can only be made individually by Pogacar or Van Der Poel. ” Same analysis on the side of Tom Leezer: ” I think that Pogacar and Van der Poel will try to leave quite early in the race. If they start 70 to 80 km from the finish, and that’s what I would do in their place, it would make things much more difficult for the Jumbo. That’s just to get rid of Laporte or Benoot. But Van Aert still risks hanging on. Like a bee on the pistil of a flower.