Vingegaard had to admit defeat to Pogacar once again, but saw 'the numbers' afterward: "Those were good numbers"

The difference between Vingegaard and stage winner Pogacar was only fourteen seconds in the eighth stage, compared to just over a minute the day before. Just like in Friday's stage, Pogacar attacked in the final and tried to follow Vingegaard. Where the Dutch team rider may have pushed himself a little too hard the day before, he took a different approach in the queen stage. "I couldn't follow his attack, but to be honest, I did well. I kept my own tempo and did not lose much, so I can be happy with how it went today."

Visibly satisfied, Vingegaard spoke to the various media outlets after the stage, where he could explain why he was so pleased. "I tried to follow, but just like yesterday, I had to slow down a bit. I am happy with today's performance; I handled it well. I could see the numbers; honestly, they were quite good."

If anyone is stronger than Vingegaard in a direct duel, it is almost always Pogacar. "Tadej was better again today, so congratulations to him. He deserved to win.’ With one day to go, Vingegaard is one minute and one second behind his opponent in the GC. The Dauphiné is considered one of the warm-up races for the upcoming Tour de France, where Vingegaard and Pogacar will face each other again. “I still hope that this race can help me to get better," said Vingegaard.

"Hopefully, I'll be better in the Tour than I am now. But as I said, Tadej was very strong today and yesterday, so he deserved to win these two days."

Head of Racing Grischa Niermann looked back on his riders' performance with satisfaction later in the evening on the team website. "It was a good day for us. Second place turned out to be the maximum achievable, and we saw a strong team effort. So it’s hard not to be pleased. We remain combative—there’s still a lot possible on the final stage. We have three riders in the top ten, so that certainly gives us something to build on," said the German.