Bardet explains why the Yates brothers will be crucial in the Tour: "He's a bit more used to the domestique role"

"On paper, Pogacar and Vingegaard's teams are evenly matched," said Jan Bakelants earlier. "You can almost have them race against each other one-on-one: in the service of a leader, Wellens and Benoot are evenly matched, Affini can do what Politt can do on the flat, Almeida and Jorgenson are the first lieutenants, and you can swap the Yates brothers for each other... And yet I give the advantage to Team UAE: the momentum is clearly with Pogacar and his team."

According to Bakelants, Simon and Adam Yates are interchangeable. An interesting opinion, in which Bardet also sees a key role. The Frenchman, who recently retired, spoke of a 'wild card role' for both brothers. "From the outside, it seems that they are in a different dynamic," Bardet told TNT Sports.

"Simon has probably had one of the best moments of his career in the Giro," explained the former Picnic PostNL rider. "The hype here, joining Visma, it’s proved to be such a good environment for him. I think he’s in the group for a reason, he’s there as the 'joker'."

"Together with Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson and Jonas, they are one of the strongest climbing squads in the race," Bardet continues. Simon Yates has already shown great things with his recent overall victory in the Giro. "I think he’s already fulfilled his expectations for the season with the Giro. They really want to try to win with Visma, with Jonas," said the Frenchman.

The other brother is on the UAE side of the story. Adam Yates also rode the Giro, finishing twelfth. "For Adam, he’s a bit more used to the [domestique] role. Maybe it didn’t go exactly how it planned to be in the Giro for him [12th-placed finish], so it depends on how physically he will recover because the Giro was pretty tough in the last week."

"I’m not saying it’s a revenge to take, but I think he can achieve a much higher level than he had in the Giro," Bardet believes. "He will be one of the last guys, with [Joao] Almeida, to pull for Pogacar on the climbs, and in this situation, once Pogacar is gone, then maybe he can catch some wheels and also achieve a super high general classification and even a podium. He has the physical ability to do so. I would say mentally they are approaching the Tour de France in a different mindset."