“I am very happy for Matej" - Tadej Pogacar delighted to see fellow Slovenian Mohoric emerge victorious on stage 19

Stage 19 was a relatively quiet day as far as the general classification riders were concerned as they rolled across the finish line almost 14 minutes down on stage winner Matej Mohoric. Speaking afterwards, Tadej Pogacar revealed his delight at his fellow Slovenian emerging victorious.

“I am very happy for Matej. He's a friend and compatriot of mine, so it's great that he wins," said Pogacar in his post-stage interview. Mohoric denied Kasper Asgreen a second straight stage win from the breakaway in a photo finish at the line.

For Pogacar, the lure of getting his own Tour de France stage win remains, despite the fact the Maillot Jaune is almost certainly out of touch.

“We will definitely try, at UAE Team Emirates we have several riders who can win. But there are still many like that, so we have to be very strong anyway to be able to win at all," he says, previewing stage 20. "I hope I can recover a bit and then play a significant role, but it will be difficult anyway. That's how it has been these past few days, and that's how it will be until Paris."