A Tour de France billed as a potential all-time classic has so far lived up to expectations as the peloton prepares to resume battle after Monday's well-deserved rest day.
The race is only nine stages old but so much has been packed in already. There's been a historic tussle between the Yates siblings, UAE Team Emirates' Adam bettering twin brother Simon on the opening stage; a sprinting masterclass from Jasper Philipsen – winner of three stages – and heartbreaking early retirements, most notably from Mark Cavendish, who falls one short of breaking Eddy Merckx's record of all-time stage wins.
Yet, these are all subplots in the ultimate drama taking place at the top of the general classification standings: an intense battle between defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and his chief challenger, the two-time winner Tadej Pogacar.
When Vingegaard dropped Pogacar in the Pyrenees to open a 53-second lead on the Slovenian after the fifth stage, it could have been a hammer blow to Pogacar's yellow jersey ambitions. But the UAE Team Emirates star responded magnificently the following day, reminding his Danish rival and the rest of the peloton of his brilliance with a surging stage victory to slash the gap to 25 seconds.
Pogacar was at it again on Sunday when the 24-year-old attacked on the steepest part of the 13.3km ascent to the Puy de Dome and dropped Vingegaard to narrow the Jumbo-Visma rider's lead to 17 seconds on the eve of the first rest day.
While the momentum feels like it's swung towards Pogacar, Vingegaard is untroubled by the recent turn of events, revealing his team had held him back.
"We didn't want to go for the stage here, we didn't want to pull because in my opinion this stage didn't suit me," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting to the Alps. There are stages that suit me a lot better than this."
Vingegaard will soon get his wish as the Tour heads back into the mountains this week for three straight stages, starting with Friday's finish on Grand Colombier followed by two summit finishes in the Alps.
Pogacar, though, is ready to bring the fight to the man in the yellow jersey.
"We will see who it suits better," the Slovenian said during a press conference on Sunday. "I like the Alps stages also, I did the recons and raced some of them already. Every year I improve on the long climbs in the heat, so we will need to wait and see in the last week who liked it more."
As the world's top-ranked road cyclist and a two-time champion, there is no doubting Pogacar's Tour de France pedigree, although there were some fitness concerns heading into the race, having only returned to competition the week before the Tour from a broken wrist.
There is still plenty of challenging racing ahead but Pogacar, who is wearing the white jersey for leading young rider, is confident he will only get better as the Tour progresses.
"I'm not surprised [by my performance], I was more surprised that I lost time on [stage five] but I knew that I was good coming to the tour," he said. "The last week should be even better than the first week. I have the pace, I was racing really good in the spring so the pace should be good."
Pogacar's hopes for a hat-trick of Tour de France titles last year were significantly hampered by the withdrawal of several teammates throughout the race with illness and injury, depriving the Slovenian of vital support to challenge Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma. By Stage 17, the UAE Team Emirates line-up had been cut in half to just four riders.
There have been no such issues so far this year, though, with Pogacar receiving ample assistance, particularly from Yates, who sits fifth in the general classification standings and wore the yellow jersey after the first stage.
Asked whether having Yates as a potential contender would be a help or a hindrance, Pogacar insisted: "It can be a good advantage. He's in super shape and he's just getting better in this tour. We can work well together in the upcoming stages. He's a great teammate and having him so close in the GC, I can be a bit more relaxed."
The Tour de France resumes on Tuesday with a hilly 167.2km stage from Vulcania to Issoire.
