Pogacar feared the Mont Ventoux, so he wasn't that confident: "That may not have been so smart"

Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled the stage all the way to the foot of Mont Ventoux, but once the climb began, Vingegaard’s Visma | Lease a Bike team set a fierce pace. “I knew from the bottom of the climb that when they started pulling, Vingegaard was feeling good, so I was ready for what was coming. We did our job, now on to the next stage,” Pogacar said in the mixed zone.

The Tour leader, who was distanced by Vingegaard on Ventoux back in 2021, said he rode smartly behind his rival this time. “I tried attacking once, but that might not have been very smart. You’re better off not blowing yourself up, so I just followed Jonas as much as I could. There were moments when I was suffering, it was one all-out effort to the finish. With 800 meters to go, I saw the front group, and with one big push, it might have been ours.”

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Tadej Pogacar admitted he felt some nerves about tackling Mont Ventoux, especially after dealing with a sore throat and a stuffy nose at the end of the second week. “My form is good, but it was quite scary to come out of the rest day and immediately have to do Mont Ventoux. But I came through it well,” he said. As he joked in his flash interview: “Luckily, I didn’t have the same legs as in 2021. We weren’t really aiming for the stage win today, the breakaway riders deserved it.”

This time, Pogacar enjoyed the climb far more than in 2021. “There were so many people on the roadside. The Alps are going to be incredible, with plenty of Slovenians cheering for me and Primoz,” he said, referring to Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. The Alps await on Thursday and Friday, while Wednesday is expected to be a day for the attackers or sprinters. “From then on, it’ll be full-on racing all the way to Paris, for sure.”