Matxin happy with Tadej Pogacar's time-trial: "He does not lose too much time to Remco, and gains time compared to Jonas and Roglic"

UAE Team Emirates put in a lot of focus in the time-trials and the reason is obvious. They work to win Grand Tours and Tadej Pogacar this Friday had to battle against no less than Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic. But in the first battle against the clock since the Giro d'Italia, Pogacar passed with a perfect note according to team manager Matxin.

“Our hard work has been rewarded. We are happy with Tadej’s performance. He does not lose too much time to Remco, and gains time compared to Jonas and Roglic," Joxean Matxín told Wielerflits. "That is a good result for us. Last year we lost a lot of time in the time trial, that gap seems to have been closed now. We have worked on it more, also on the bike. Our hard work has been rewarded.” Last year was the result of a brilliant time-trial from Vingegaard in Combloux however, not a poor one from the Slovenian. There was tension in the UAE camp that Pogacar would lose time to his main rival, but he ended up winning 25 seconds on a mostly flat TT.

UAE overall did quite good with João Almeida finishing eighth and climbing to sixth in the overall classification. Juan Ayuso descended from fourth to fifth being overtaken by Primoz Roglic whilst Adam Yates ascended from 13th to 11th. “They all rode a good time trial. They had also prepared well," Matxin assures. The team was vastly superior to all others in the only mountain stage so far in the Tour at the Col du Galibier, and it's focus remains there.

However, until the riders reach it there are a few more stages with traps presented in the route and most prominently is stage 9 this Sunday to Troyes where there are plenty gravel sectors. “Whether we will try to gain time against Vingegaard again? That depends on the situation. It will be a chaotic day with a lot of stress. Whether we will attack will really depend on the moment itself.”