Going into the race, Netcompany-Ineos, UAE-XRG, and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were touted as the top favorites for the team time trial. Yet it was Visma-Lease a Bike that had the last laugh after 20 kilometers.
Head of Performance for Visma, Mathieu Heijboer, says to Belgian media "Sporza" that Visma had consulted AI to find out how they should approach the team time trial.
Visma-Lease a Bike opted, perhaps as the only team, for a bold tactic as lightweight riders Jonas Vingegaard, Davide Piganzoli, and Sepp Kuss were allowed to conserve their energy until the final two climbs leaving five riders to set the pace on the flat sections.
Mathieu Heijboer explains that AI never wavered on how the team’s eight riders should manage their energy.
"The models consistently showed that we needed to save our lightest riders and rely on the other five for the flat sections. We wouldn't have gone any faster if all seven riders (everyone except Vingegaard – ed.) had taken turns pulling."
However, the Visma riders did not follow the machine's suggestions blindly; they offered input and adjustments that were incorporated into the tactics. Nevertheless, everyone was open to the technology and embraced the proposal to save the team's climbers.
Visma ultimately won the stage, as Jonas Vingegaard covered the 19.6 kilometers eight seconds faster than Filippo Ganna and another four seconds faster than Tadej Pogačar.
The second stage of the Tour de France will take place today, featuring a punchy, 168.5-kilometer hilly stage from Tarragona to Barcelona with a classic-style circuit finale where riders will face three relentless laps over the Côte du Château de Montjuïc.
