Pogacar annoyed by "irritating" attacks from Visma | Lease a Bike: "So I decided to launch a better one myself"

It wasn't exactly in Pogacar's plans for Healy to take the yellow jersey. But without João Almeida out of the race, things have become a bit more difficult. “Of course, it's not nice to lose the yellow jersey, but yesterday we lost João, and Pavel is still recovering from his illness,” Pogacar explained to TV Slovenija. “Our goal was to prevent Visma from attacking us, or rather, to fend off these attacks. That was our big task, and we did it perfectly.”

Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss launched several attacks to lure UAE Team Emirates - XRG, and Pogacar out of the pack, but they were able to withstand the pressure. The yellow jersey wearer did not like it at all. “They were a bit annoying with all those attacks, so I decided to launch a better attack myself. They definitely tried to do something today, but I had good legs, and the climbs weren't difficult enough to make a big difference.”

The acceleration was fierce but not enough to drop Vingegaard, who praised his rival after the finish. That's why Pogacar kept his legs still and allowed the young Frenchman another moment of glory. “We also joined Lenny Martinez, and I made sure he crossed the finish line before me, which means a lot to him.” The yellow jersey is no longer on his shoulders, but Pogacar doesn't see it all as negative. “On the one hand, it's even good that we don't have that yellow jersey,” he laughs about the obligations that come with being the leader in the GC.

It was a great day for Adam Yates. His team leader survived the tough stage, and his brother Simon won at the top of Mont-Dore. “Of course, I'm happy for him, although I don't know exactly what happened,” he tells Eurosport. "A great day for him, and we survived. We lost João (Almeida, ed.), of course, and Pavel (Sivakov, ed.) is a bit under the weather, so we were a few men short. We made it through, a good day today, and tomorrow is a rest day.'

The tenth stage was always going to be exciting for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. It was pretty much a given that Visma | Lease a Bike would try something, but there was another reason for the nervousness. “It's more the fact that we've had nine flat days. Then you go into the mountains, and you don't know what level you're at and how good the competition is,” explains the 32-year-old climber.

Team leader Pogacar has lost the yellow jersey, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. As the yellow jersey wearer, you have more obligations. “That's what you hope, right?” laughs his teammate. “But it doesn't matter whether Tadej is wearing yellow, white, or something else because he has to attend press conferences anyway. We'll rest as much as possible, but it won't be easy.”