"Everyone suffered today, but we are still in a good position" - Joxean Matxin satisfied with UAE Team Emirates in the first week

All reasons to smile at UAE Team Emirates after the ninth stage of Tour de France. After all Tadej Pogacar is in the yellow with solid lead over his nearest competitors. In addition, his teammates Juan Ayuso and Joao Almeida are in placed 5th and 6th overall respectively.

The Slovenian probably hoped to even gain some time on his rivals on the gravel sectors, but his opponents stayed alert and didn't allow the Yellow jersey wearer to ride away. "We covered a lot of attacks, because there was a lot of stress and tension, but Tadej had good moments. Today was a very important day," says sports director Joxean Matxin in an interview with WielerFlits.

33 seconds over and Remco Evenepoel and 1:15 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard - that's not a bad way to conclude the eventful first block of racing. "Tadej is leading and has an important advantage. It is not yet a decisive gap, but we keep fighting. It is only the first week. There are still a lot of riders to watch out for. Everyone suffered today, but we are still in a good position."