The Leadership: Who’s Calling the Shots at Intermarché–Wanty in Tour de France 2025?

A squad’s strength is built on more than watts and watts per kilo — it’s about having smart tacticians in the car, level-headed road captains in the bunch, and a chain of command that holds when the race explodes. Intermarché–Wanty rolls into the 2025 Tour with a tight, underdog-savvy leadership core — and here’s how they’re structuring their assault.

🎙️ Directeur Sportif (DS) Command: Steven De Neef

Belgian cycling brain Steven De Neef is the mastermind behind Intermarché’s surprise ambushes and stage-hunting raids. A DS who loves guerrilla tactics, De Neef isn’t afraid to throw a curveball — whether it’s a long-range solo bid or flipping sprint lead-outs into late-stage ambushes.

Key Traits:

• Obsessed with weather reports (especially crosswinds)
• Values breakaway chaos as much as set-piece sprint days
• Known for keeping team morale sky-high with blunt honesty and last-minute genius calls

Expect:
Opportunistic moves, exploiting GC team stress, and gutsy raids in transitional stages.

🛡️ Road Captains: Georg Zimmermann & Jonas Rutsch

Georg Zimmermann isn’t just Intermarché’s mountain breakaway hope — he’s the peloton boss for this crew. Zimmermann reads the peloton like a seasoned poker player, knows when to gamble, and when to hold.

Jonas Rutsch brings muscle and cool nerves to the classics-style stages. He’s the guy making the calls in echelons, crosswinds, and tense run-ins to sprint finales.

Role:

• Zimmermann: Mountain stage tactics, breakaway coordination
• Rutsch: Protecting Girmay on flat stages, positioning, and crosswind operations

🤝 Leadership Dynamic: Tight & Tactical

Unlike top-heavy superteams, Intermarché–Wanty thrives on group leadership and rider empowerment. They’re flexible, reactive, and willing to pivot race plans mid-stage if the situation demands.

Inside Intel:

• Girmay has growing input on sprint tactics
• Youngsters like Vito Braet and Laurenz Rex are given leash on certain stages
• DS and road captains huddle post-stage to adjust next-day tactics based on legs and morale, not rigid plans

The Unsung Heroes: Support Crew Behind the Scenes 🤫

While Girmay, Zimmermann, and Rutsch battle it out on the tarmac, there’s a squad of legends you’ll rarely see on TV — but without them, this Tour campaign collapses like a soufflé in a headwind. These are the mechanics, soigneurs, nutritionists, and logistics wizards who keep the team sharp, fueled, and firing through every grueling kilometre.

The Mechanics: The Late-Night Lifesavers

Imagine washing, tuning, and rebuilding 9 race bikes (plus spares) every single night after 200km in the rain — that’s the grind for Intermarché’s wrench crew. Led by Chief Mechanic Jeroen Devos, this squad works magic with torque wrenches and spare derailleurs.

Job Highlights:

• Nightly bike overhauls, pressure checks, drivetrain cleaning
• Swapping chainrings and gearing setups to match next day’s parcours
• Emergency fixes in convoy chaos at 70 km/h

Known For:
Zero margin for error and keeping bikes dialed to perfection no matter how savage the racing gets.

The Soigneurs: Recovery Architects

The first faces riders see post-stage — armed with protein shakes, ice socks, recovery wraps, and endless back rubs. These angels on wheels turn suffering bodies into race-ready machines by sunrise.

Team’s Head Soigneur: Arnaud Tournay

Responsibilities:

• Ice baths & massage rotations
• Pre-stage feedbag prep: rice cakes, date bars, and secret nut butter bombs
• In-van recovery snacks and post-race shakes

Known For:
Bizarre snack concoctions that somehow work and keeping morale up with legendary music playlists in the bus.

The Nutritionists: Performance Fuel Commanders

No baguette left behind? Not so fast. Intermarché’s nutrition gurus are science-driven fuel strategists balancing glycogen loads, hydration plans, and sneaky on-bike treats for breakaway raids.

Their Edge:

Customized rider meal plans based on stages — think carb-heavy for mountain days, lighter for sprints, electrolyte tweaks for heatwaves.

Go-To Rider Snack:
Handmade rice bars laced with honey and pistachio bits.

Logistics & Admin Legends

Ever wonder how an entire Tour team — 9 riders, 20 staff, 6 vehicles, 40 bikes — moves like clockwork across France? Meet the logistical samurais making it happen. Booking hotels, timing transfers, fueling vehicles, and dodging road closures like Tour ninjas.

Known For:
Solving problems before riders even know they exist.

Why These Legends Matter:

Without this crew, the team’s Tour ambitions would flatline by Stage 4. They’re the unseen warriors turning chaos into calm and fatigue into fight.