Tadej Pogačar's camp mindful that one bad day can change the Tour de France
The Slovenian has a large buffer over Vingegaard but two tricky mountain stages and a time trial remain
He’s looked imperious so far, winning three stages and dominating the overall standings with a 3:09 lead over his nearest rival but Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and his camp are refusing to allow complacency to creep in as they close in on a third Tour de France title.
The Slovenian won back-to-back mountain stages last weekend and set a new record at Plateau de Beille as he put the two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) to the sword. Those two results moved the gap between the pair out from 1:14 to 3:09 but despite those results, the UAE camp knows that the Dane is far from finished and that one bad day could alter the race significantly.
“Coming out of the second rest day with three minutes in an excellent position to be in,” UAE Team Emirates’ sports manager Matxin Fernandez told us.