In putting 6:02 into Pogačar and half a minute more into the other primary GC riders, he elevated himself to 2:01 behind Pogačar but another 3:17 clear of third-placed Rigoberto Urán.And behind OConnor, only 54 seconds different Urán in 3rd and Lutsenko in eighth at 6:12. Pogačar can still lose the Tour, of course– the carnage of the opening couple of days taught us that anything can occur to any person at this race. There are still concern marks about Pogačars team, and the most positive fans might hold out hope of UAE Emirates getting distanced early in one or other of the less mountainous stages, much like Deceuninck-QuickStep last year on the stage to Lavaur when Bora-Hansgrohe split the field early in order to take benefit in the green jersey category. Pogačar will remember that day well– he got caught out in the late crosswinds split later on in the stage and yielded 1:21. That day last year will serve as a warning to Tadej Pogačar to be vigilant, however likewise as a reminder not to worry too much– it will take more than an 81-second split to put him out of the yellow jersey, and presuming he stays healthy, he can bank on taking more time at will in the 4 staying high mountain phases and the final TT.The two Alpine phases which Tadej Pogačar has utilized to crush his competitors were run off in horrible weather conditions with rain and cold battering the peloton.

In putting 6:02 into Pogačar and half a minute more into the other main GC riders, he elevated himself to 2:01 behind Pogačar however another 3:17 clear of third-placed Rigoberto Urán.And behind OConnor, only 54 seconds separate Urán in third and Lutsenko in eighth at 6:12. There are still question marks about Pogačars team, and the most optimistic fans might hold out hope of UAE Emirates getting distanced early in one or other of the less mountainous stages, much like Deceuninck-QuickStep last year on the stage to Lavaur when Bora-Hansgrohe split the field early in order to take benefit in the green jersey category. That day last year will serve as an alerting to Tadej Pogačar to be alert, however also as a pointer not to fret too much– it will take more than an 81-second split to put him out of the yellow jersey, and assuming he remains healthy, he can bank on taking more time at will in the 4 remaining high mountain stages and the final TT.The 2 Alpine stages which Tadej Pogačar has actually utilized to squash his rivals were run off in dreadful weather condition conditions with rain and cold battering the peloton.