"Jonas Vingegaard really came for the win. He showed balls, finally" - Tadej Pogacar in jovial mood on Tour de France rest day

Barring any major disasters or strokes of bad luck, Tadej Pogacar is looking good for a third Maillot Jaune triumph of his career at the 2024 Tour de France. As the Grand Tour reaches its second rest day, the Slovenian is sitting at the top of the general classification, more than three minutes clear of main rival Jonas Vingegaard.

"The rest day is going well. We did a little loop with the boys. We stopped at the bakery. Don't tell my dietician, but I had the best brownie of my life," says an understandably upbeat Pogacar in his rest day press conference this Monday afternoon. "We had one of the best climbs yesterday. I got the highest marks of my career. Jonas really came for the win. He really showed balls, finally. They really rode a fantastic race."

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On stage 15, Pogacar obliterated Marco Pantani's long held climbing record for the Plateau de Beille by an astonishing four minute margin. In the third and final week of this Grand Tour, Pogacar will look to see out a Tour de France win and emulate Pantani again by becoming the first man since the late Italian to double up the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same calendar year. "When I arrived here at the team everything was different, much more amateurish, but now it's all much more professional. But the teams push each other to do better and yesterday we saw one of the fastest climbs ever," the UAE Team Emirates leader analyses. "It's really impressive to see how much everything has changed in my six years as a professional."

Throughout the Tour, there has also been signs of a budding bromance between Pogacar and the man currently third in the general classification, Remco Evenepoel. "When I saw him on TV, he already seemed like a champion. He didn't care what the others said and just did his own thing. Now we meet each other in the Tour and my respect for Remco has grown enormously," Pogacar says warmly of his rival. "He is super respectful and I enjoy racing with him. He is a classy cyclist."

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Nevertheless, with six stages still to go and no processional final stage in Paris this year due to the Olympic Games, Pogacar isn't counting his third Tour de France win just yet. "It's going to be a tough last week. We're definitely going to see some fireworks. The stage on Saturday is actually a home ride for me. I practice a lot there," Pogacar previews. "I'm not really afraid of anything. There are still some great stages to go. Of course you don't want to crash or get sick, so let's try to avoid that. Covid is going around in the peloton and it will also be going around on the mountains with the fans. Let's hope I'm spared from that. I had it before the Tour and it was quite mild, but if someone has a fever, it's better to stop of course."

Finally, the question was again raised, if Pogacar can complete the Tour de France victory, would the Slovenian travel to Spain later this year and aim for a historic Grand Tour hat-trick in 2024. "It is 99 percent certain that I will not participate in the Vuelta a Espana this year," Pogacar answers.

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