"I hope to keep this yellow until Paris" - Pogacar on dealing with heat, yellow ambitions and Covid-19

Tadej Pogacar escaped the stressful opening week of the Tour de France relatively unscathed. Although he took two small crashes, they proved to have no consequences and UAE Team Emirates are in a familiar position with their Slovenian super-talent at the head of the race.

This Sunday en route to Châtel UAE paced hard, however Pogacar explained that it was with the goal of controlling the race, and not attack it. "...In the last 250 meters only Jonas Vingegaard could follow and we took a few seconds on the rest. And that's always good," he told Het Nieuwsblad on the rest day.

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With the first true mountain challenges coming this week for the Slovenian, he denies being in a dominant position: "I don't know. We'll see in the next days. We already had some climbs but they weren't crazy hard. Tuesday is more like a warm-up. The Col du Granon and Alpe d'Huez are two really big alpine rides. I have a good eye on my fitness. I hope for good legs this week too.”

He will have to contend with harsh heat, which is said to be perhaps one of his few weaknesses. He shrugs off such claims: "It's the same for everyone. You just have to try to keep your body as fresh as possible. I don't think anyone likes to race when it's forty degrees hot... I also had some really hot days on altitude training. It was also 37 degrees the two times I rode up to the Tour de Alpe d'Huez. I know very well what is coming my way. I'm not afraid," he explained. 

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He is starting the tenth stage with a 39-second gap over Jonas Vingegaard and over a minute against the rest of the competition. In the first few days UAE didn't manage to provide the support that other teams did, but it came to no consequence for the defending champion. Down to seven riders due to Vegard Stake Laengen's abandon with Covid-19, Pogacar is aware that "it doesn't matter whether you wear yellow or not" and does fear a possible outbreak.

He is clear on his goals though, making it obvious that he wants to keep yellow not only on these first days he wore it, but all the way into Paris. "...No, I'd rather keep that shirt. It's so special. It is better to be one step ahead than one step behind. We are now in pole position. We can check the thing. It's a little easier for me under the circumstances. It's nice to be a leader already. I hope to keep this yellow until Paris," the race leader concluded.