Visma-Lease a Bike's sports director Marc Reef waited for Jonas Vingegaard at the finish of the time trial in Massa to assess how he was feeling physically after a particularly demanding effort. The 42 kilometers against the clock tested the riders hard, and in the end the fastest of all was Filippo Ganna, who delivered a dominant performance.

At Visma-Lease a Bike, however, the overall assessment remains positive. The team continues to follow the strategy planned before the race and, at least for now, the situation in the general classification perfectly reflects the objectives set. Jonas Vingegaard completed a solid effort, limiting losses on terrain that wasn't particularly suited to his characteristics.

«Well, I think he did a good job. Jonas fought from start to finish. It's not exactly the course best suited to him. I think all the bigger riders, with more power, came ahead, but I believe in the general classification he did excellent work. The numbers Jonas put up are what we expected and at this moment we're satisfied, because we're still in an excellent position», Reef explained at the end of the stage.

Among the day's protagonists was also Thymen Arensman of NetCompany Ineos. The Dutchman confirmed his excellent form by finishing the time trial with the second-best time, 1'54" behind Ganna, a result that allows him to move up to third place in the general classification.

«We'll take some time with most of the guys to analyze the effort. As for Arensman's performance, I think he lost about a minute. But that was also what we expected, that he would lose some time. Eulalio is still in the pink jersey and that works for us. And I think we can move forward with this situation».

Arensman now trails the Portuguese rider in the pink jersey by 1'57", while Vingegaard holds second place just 27 seconds from the top.

Reef, however, prefers not to overcommit himself in reading the race and looks especially at the difficulties awaiting the peloton in the coming weeks.

«It's difficult to say if Arensman is the most insidious rival for us. We still have demanding mountain stages ahead, obviously. I think he's now the competitor closest to Jonas, if I'm not mistaken, or perhaps it's Gall. I'm not yet sure because I haven't seen the results, but obviously we all know that in the third week of a Tour de France he's always in excellent form. He's already proven that in the last two years. Anyway, Arensman is a rival we've taken into consideration from the start, just like the others, and now there will be two very demanding weeks ahead. So yes, it's still difficult to say what we should expect».