Tadej Pogacar congratulates Van der Poel but hints at fresh Tour de France stage attack after rest day

Tadej Pogacar can tick off another day at the Tour de France. The UAE Emirates-XRG rider briefly appeared interested in fighting for the stage victory, but ultimately left the honours to the riders in the breakaway. Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Premier Tech went on to win the stage.

Pogacar was quick to congratulate Van der Poel after the finish. “You won?” he asked the Dutchman before offering his congratulations and posing together for a selfie. Van der Poel had spent much of the demanding stage on the attack before completing the job at the finish.

What exactly was UAE Emirates-XRG trying to achieve by keeping the pace so high in the peloton? “The plan was simply to reach the finish,” Pogacar explained. “We wanted to keep them at around one minute, but then Netcompany INEOS began riding because they had the ambition of going for the stage with Pipo [Filippo Ganna].”

“In the end, the breakaway made it to the finish. It was a very hard day. I hope tomorrow will be a quiet one, with a nice, relaxed ride and some good rest,” he said, looking ahead to Monday’s first rest day of the Tour. UAE had not necessarily committed fully to chasing the stage, with the team also seeking to control the gap and protect its wider interests in the race.

The following day brings the tough stage to Le Lioran, where Jonas Vingegaard surprisingly defeated Pogacar two years ago. Could it be time for revenge? “Of course, the most important objective is to keep the yellow jersey, but sometimes the best defence is to attack, and you never know,” Pogacar said. “We will see what happens over the next few days, but the day after the rest day will definitely be a hard one.”