The problem with conventional wisdom is, simply, that it's conventional. It rarely accounts for what you don't expect to happen, like a spindly-armed 58 kilogram GC rider helping force a split in a crosswind on flat roads and catching some of the best teams in the sport looking.
But that's exactly what happened on the opening stage of the 2025 Tour de France, when two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike team smashed the race open with less than 20 km to go with an aggressive acceleration in the gusty, swirling winds around the Grand Départ in Lille.
The winds were expected, as was that some teams might try to take advantage of them. But even with a first week of racing where conventional wisdom – there's that phrase again – suggests the yellow jersey contenders would simply be content to stay out of trouble, Visma quickly dispelled any notion that it would race conservatively.
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