Mollema advocates for six-rider Tour teams to 'do something about the force majeure of UAE'
Lidl-Trek's Bauke Mollema, a veteran of 23 Grand Tours who will retire at the end of 2026, is the latest to advocate for smaller Grand Tour teams citing multiple reasons, including safety and creating a more even playing field.
"[I] see something in smaller teams to increase the tension and do something about the force majeure of UAE. Teams of only six in the Tour, I would like to see that," Mollema wrote in his column for Dagblad van het Noorden. "Who do they leave at home? Pogačar also has to bring two men for the flat. They then really have to make choices and can never control it like that again. Especially not if they also have to deal with illness or falls, as was the case now.
"Moreover, it would also be good for safety in the peloton. I recently rode the Tour of Romandie, where the teams consisted of seven riders and a few WorldTour teams had also canceled. We rode with a peloton of only a hundred men. That created a completely different dynamic. I haven't seen a fall all week. That was really wonderful to race."
The rest of Mollema's column was devoted to the lack of tension in the GC competition, the relative youth of the top 10, and his impression of Paul Seixas's first Tour.
"I do see Paul Seixas, the youngest of all at 19 years old, as the biggest threat to Pogacar in about two or three years. I remember driving my first grand tour on my 23rd, the Giro in 2010. I turned twelfth and was completely broken after three weeks. So I understand that Seixas was at the limit. Deep respect that he can already be fourth at the age of nineteen."
Kit Nicholson
