Movistar's sporting director: "The UAE's tactics yesterday? They were senseless."

The race tactics of UAE Team Emirates continue to be a topic of discussion as, in the ninth stage of the Tour de France, they worked to keep the breakaway (which included Mathieu Van der Poel, who eventually crossed the finish line first) under control.

However, there were no riders in the attack who were considered dangerous for the general classification, so why did Tadej Pogacar's men help close the gap to the breakaway? Movistar sports director José Joaquim Rojas weighed in on the issue, raising some doubts about the UAE team's interpretation of the race:   “ In my opinion, their racing style kills the spectacle of the sport a bit . The winner is practically already decided, and UAE is one of the most overwhelming and dominant teams we've seen in recent years.

I can't explain their way of racing on stage nine (yesterday, ed.). It makes no sense. And 85% of the other sports directors think the same way . It will be difficult for many of us to understand what happened yesterday. In cycling, there are unwritten rules."

" Now our goal is to win a stage. We'll use the other seven riders to break away," Rojas continued. "Since Uijtdebroeks retired, we've always had at least one rider in the breakaway. These guys deserve a stage win because they fight from start to finish to get it. Today, if you don't have Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard, it's practically impossible to fight for the general classification."

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency