"No one can replace Almeida," Narváez fears ahead of the Pyrenees; Sivakov recovers from illness: "I’m back to normal"

Jhonatan Narváez has already carried much of the responsibility in the hills and middle mountains. In the stage to Mont-Dore, he was crucial in supporting leader Pogacar and managed to fill the void left by the Portuguese rider. However, the Ecuadorian knows that the loss of Almeida is significant. “We will have to put in an extraordinary performance,” he told EsCiclismo.

What won’t help either is that the world champion himself crashed in stage 11. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) cut him off in an attempt to follow a breakaway, and Pogacar was unable to avoid a crash. “Those are things you can't control in a race, even if you want to be in complete control,” said his domestique, who noticed that his leader is now frustrated. “He's furious now.”

The Pyrenees will be the first real test for the GC contenders, who, after 11 days of tough racing, will now certainly want to make a difference. UAE Team Emirates - XRG is ready. “We have a few tough days ahead of us, and we need to be well prepared. The rest day was good for us; we have recovered and are ready to continue. The first week was very tough, but there are still two weeks to go with a lot of mountains. We have good climbers and we are eager to get started on what lies ahead.”

Narváez will play a crucial role, although the small, explosive rider is not the ideal domestique for the high mountains. “I've always said that I'm not a real climber. I can stay with them, but no one in this team can replace Almeida. We'll have to make a big collective effort to achieve that.” In addition to the Ecuadorian champion, Pogacar can count on Adam Yates, Tim Wellens, Marc Soler, and Pavel Sivakov in the mountains.

The Frenchman mentioned above has been experiencing health issues in recent days. Illness prevented him from reaching his desired level, which was made even more difficult by Almeida's withdrawal. He was invisible in the difficult tenth stage, but he seems to have recovered. “I was prescribed antibiotics, and then I also had a bad cough and bronchitis,” he told L'Équipe. “I really struggled to get through the stages, but the rest day did me good.”

In the Pyrenees and Alps, the Italian-born Russian, who took French nationality in 2022, will normally be the most important domestique alongside Yates for the three-time Tour winner. The 28-year-old climber seems to have recovered and feels ready to stay with Pogacar for a long time. “I woke up this morning (Wednesday, ed.) full of energy. I feel good again, I'm back to normal.”