Less than a month out from the team time trial that will kick off the Tour de France in Barcelona, stage 3 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes gave us a glimpse into where things stand for some big names and their teams in a discipline only raced in on other WorldTour event all season. When the dust settled on the town of Perreux, Matteo Jorgenson and Visma-Lease a Bike had aced their pre-Tour test, while Paul Seixas and Decathlon-CMA CGM left us with more to think about.
Here is what we learned from the TTT at the former Critérium du Dauphiné.
Visma bounces back after a so-so showing in Paris-Nice
This was a big day for Visma for more reasons than one. Jonas Vingegaard may not be at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, but many of the riders that could surround him in July are: Jorgenson, Bruno Armirail, Edoardo Affini, Wout van Aert, and Ben Tulett are all potential Tour starters. While not every one of those riders enjoyed the strongest showing on Tuesday, the final result was undeniably encouraging after an only so-so showing from Visma in the Paris-Nice TTT earlier this year.
With Vingegaard leading the way and a team that should have done better, Visma was a solid but unspectacular fourth in that test. This time, Jorgenson took an emphatic win for the team even with issues for some key players.
"It didn't really go as planned at all," Jorgenson said afterward. "We lost Wout pretty early, he wasn't feeling super, and then Ben flatted and almost crashed on the main descent, so that was a hairy moment."
The collective firepower still in the group proved enough to keep the pace high throughout the 28.4 km course, and Visma also played the tactical game well in this updated format where the finishing time of a team's GC leader was all that really mattered. With Jørgen Nordhagen pulling off to leave Jorgenson alone for the finale, it was clear that no energy was wasted on the day. The performance put Jorgenson into an excellent position to contest the GC at this race, and it must also have brought a smile to the face of Jonas Vingegaard as he watched from afar.
Come July, with Van Aert in better shape and hopefully better luck for Tulett, Visma will be looking forward to the Tour de France TTT.
Question marks for Decathlon-CMA CGM?
Yes, that's a question mark at the end of a header about question marks, because it's hard to really know what to make of Decathlon's day.
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