When the route for the 2023 Tour de France was unveiled in Paris on Thursday, the major cycling off-season event was missing a key figure. For the first time in years, the reigning champion was not there to see what awaited him the following July.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) was in Singapore, where Tour de France organizer ASO is holding a criterium event in Asia. Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl) and Greg Van Avermaat (AG2R Citroën) will take a flight from Paris after the presentation, but Vingegaard wanted to travel earlier to have a more relaxed ride.

Vingegaard's Yumbo Visma colleagues Primoz Roglic and Wout Van Aert were also not present. It was therefore left to General Manager Richard Plagge and Sports Manager Melaine Zeman to react to the team that dominated this year's Tour.

"It's not traditional parkour, it's a new type of parkour. We haven't seen a course like this in years," Zeman told Cycling News.

"There are mountain stages that look easy, but there are also very hard mountain stages like Rosellend and Col de la Rose. They are very hard stages. There is also the Vosges on the second last day, which makes the final week the hardest part of the Tour."

As for the paucity of time trials, this may seem problematic for a team that has two of the top three GC riders competing in time trials, plus a Van Aert specialist. However, despite being a major topic of discussion for the entire route, it was not a major problem for Zeman.

"Our biggest opponent is (Tadei) Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), who is also a TT specialist.

Regarding the general mood in the camp, Zeman was neither satisfied nor disappointed with Jumbo Visma, but suggested that the course suited the strengths of Vingegaard, Roglic, and Van Aert.

"I just accept it. It's something I can't control. That's how I see it."

"This course, with leaders like Roglic, Vingegaard, and Van Alto, will give them the opportunity to make a difference.

It is interesting that Zeman named three of Jumbo Vismo's main riders.

Vingegaard is almost certain to return to the Tour as defending champion, but there is a question mark over whether Roglic will be tempted by the 70km time trial at the Giro d'Italia. Van Aert has even been mentioned as a possibility for a visit to Italy, but that seems unlikely given the Classics ambitions that lie ahead of the Giro.

"It's possible. It's possible. I want to hear what they have to say, see how they feel, what they believe in, what their motivations are."

"We just finished evaluating this season, and with that we plan for the new season. It's a long process that takes weeks and we're in the middle of it, so it's hard to say yet."

"We want to win the biggest race in the world, so we will focus on the biggest race in the world. We will look at our goals and how we can achieve them. We will all have a good plan to support it."