He gave up the first fight. I don’t know what to say to that, says Peter Sagan

The first week did not bring any big surprises. Wout van Aert handed over the yellow jersey after the sixth stage directly to the defender Tadej Pogačar, who is driving flawlessly so far.

1. Pogačar handles obstacles with ease

The first week of the Tour de France brought a variety of obstacles to test many sides of the cyclists. Several stages were stressful for the leaders in the overall standings, because the course is not firmly in their hands and they are in danger of losing the race, for example, after an unnecessary fall.

It is unbelievable how easily Tadej Pogačar was able to overcome all obstacles. Whether it was the windy stages, the shortened version of the Paris-Roubaix classic or the finish on a short climb, the Slovenian attacked.

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“I’ve never seen him this strong,” his teammate Brandon McNulty tells velonews.

So far, there is no indication that he has a weak spot. If in the past years the opponents labeled his teammates in this way, after the 9th stage, even the opponents recognized that the UAE Emirates showed their strength.

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“I expected that the yellow jersey would be given to someone from a leak. They went at a strong pace and controlled the situation. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t bother us,” Jumbo sports director Frans Maassen told the Dutch NOS television.

Last year, after 9 stages, Pogačar already had a two-minute lead. This year it is 39 seconds, which is not much.

“That’s the difference you lose for one worse stage,” says second-place finisher Jonas Vingegaard.

On the other hand, he acknowledges: “But Tadej doesn’t have bad days. He is very strong. If we want to compete with him, we have to go to the maximum,” he told wielerflits.

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Former sporting director Johan Bruynnel thinks that Pogačar is not invincible and UAE Emirates made a mistake.

They should have left the leader’s jersey to a strong team that would have to control the stages. As an example, he gave the team of Bora-Hansgrohe and Lennard Kamna, which was close to victory in the 7th stage.

“The most important thing for opponents will be to tire out his teammates and isolate Pogačar. That’s the task of strong teams like Jumbo and Ineos in the coming weeks,” says Bruynel for wielerflits.

2. Sagan gave up the first goal

His attitude can be estimated from the degree to which he jokes in interviews or amuses the audience. Every time he was strong and doing well in the Tour, he made the stages a show and made people laugh.

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