Outside the Jumbo Visma bus on Boulevard Barbès in Carcassonne, director Fran Maassen (Sportif) added a disclaimer to the information he provided to reporters. Maassen said apologetically, "I'm not sure yet, we'll see later." It was one of those days, one crisis after another.

It was unfortunate that Jonas Vingegaard lost one of his support riders before the Tour de France's 15th stage began. Losing another to a crash with 65km to go was problematic. When Vingegaard himself fell shortly thereafter, Jumbo Visma risked a full-blown catastrophe.

Vingegaard quickly rejoined the race and relieved the immediate tension by rejoining the peloton. He arrived in Carcassonne still in the yellow jersey with a 2:22 lead over Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), but as the Tour entered its final rest day, the complexion of his team's race changed dramatically.

"It was a tough day for us, not our best day," Maassen said.

"But we were fortunate that Jonas was competing in the final.

On Sunday morning, before the stage in Rodez began, Jumbo-Visma announced that Primoz Roglic had withdrawn from the Tour. This was, at least, to be expected. Since his impressive cameo on behalf of Vingegaard on the Galibier Pass, his contributions to the Tour had been more sporadic and less sustained.

"It's not nice to see such a big champion suffering every day and not being at his level," Maassen said at the start of the Rodez. 'We made a decision together.'

Although Roglic will be looking for his fourth consecutive Vuelta a España title, Maassen downplayed the impact of Roglic's absence on Jumbo Visma's strategy for the final week.

Roglic had started the Tour as co-leader of Jumbo-Visma, and his importance in that role was clear when Pogachar felt compelled to corner his acceleration on stage 11, the Col du Galibier. However, that same afternoon, Roglic was definitely out of contention for the overall, and his strategic value declined accordingly. At this point, Jumbo Visma needed a main player, not a decoy. Therefore, the decision was made not to use Roglic.

"We only have one leader in the final week because we have to run full for Jonas. It doesn't matter that much."

Roglic's decision to put an end to the Tour seemed rather premature as the peloton headed to Revel on Sunday afternoon with temperatures reaching 40°C. The peloton suddenly slowed and with 65km to go, Steven Kruijswijk was knocked to the ground. Shaking his head in the middle of the road, he seemed to instinctively realize that the Tour was over. A quick diagnosis by the race doctor confirmed it. I don't think I'm going to be okay because my shoulder is dislocated, and I went to the hospital," Maassen said after the finish. That's not a good sign."

Jumbo Visma's numerical advantage over UAE Team Emirates, led by Pogachar, was shattered by the end of the afternoon when Tiesj Benoot crashed just 6 km later, taking leader Vingegaard with him. But teammate Christophe Laporte admitted that it was a big scare.

"It was a bad moment for us, within five or ten minutes," Laporte told reporters as he boarded the Jumbo Visma bus after the finish. "Steven retired, and Jonas and Teasge also fell: ...... That crash was right before the last climb of the day and there was a roundabout and it was a little stressful. I didn't see it, but that's how it happens."

Laporte would normally have been tasked with piloting Wout Van Aert in the Carcassonne finale, but the green-jersey man lost second place in a group sprint to compatriot Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Desseuninck).

Van Aert has calmly insisted throughout the Tour that he has two goals in mind for Jumbo Visma. The quick reallocation of resources on Sunday afternoon confirmed that one objective is valued rather more highly than the other.

"Laporte stayed with Jonas for the last 3 km, while Wout decided to go his own way," Maassen said.

"Laporte stayed with Jonas until 3km to go, and Wout decided to go his own way. But most importantly, Jonas was safe until the last 3 km."

"I was very happy with the way things went," said Wout.

In another all-out Tour, Van Aat has already contributed to two stage wins and the yellow jersey, and has a commanding lead in the points standings. He has also shown outlandish personal tricks, such as joining an early breakaway at one point on Sunday, and metronomic behavior, replacing Vingegaard as pacemaker.

Director Sportif Grischa Niermann suggested that van Art was called upon to perform another small miracle next week to cover for Roglic and Kreiswijk, who will be sidelined in the high mountains.

"In Wout van Art we have a helper who can run for three in the Pyrenees. 'We are very happy to have him on our team. He will play a big part in the climb."

Jumbo Visma will be grateful for the small mercy of a Monday rest day before the Tour heads to the Pyrenees. It remains to be seen how Thiej Benoot will be affected by Sunday's crash, but it is clear that Sepp Kuss and Van Aert will have to do the heavy lifting on next week's climb.

"With the riders still here, I think we can keep things under control," Van Aert said.

.