Pogacar "hungrier than ever" according to Brandon McNulty in pursuit of third yellow jersey

UAE Team Emirates are leading the Tour de France and pursuing a third win at the Grand Boucle in consecutive years. So far Tadej Pogacar has looked rock solid, and one of his teammates Brandon McNulty has given a personal opinion on how the race is currently shaping.

At the end of stage nine, McNulty has said regarding his teammate: “I’ve never seen him this good and he’s hungrier than ever. Yesterday was a bit somber because Vegard [Stake Laengen] went home, and he’s a great guy to have around," he told VeloNews. “But all around everyone is in a really good mood. Things are going great."

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After the opening week, despite the occasional lack of support, Tadej Pogacar has swiftly taken time on all his competition, and on two occasions UAE Team Emirates worked hard to bring in breakaways and see their leader take two stage wins.

On stage nine the American joined the day's breakaway, whilst his teammates worked hard behind. In the end UAE still rode the finale conservatively, with McNulty as a precaution card up front. "The plan wasn’t really to be in the break. We shut down one move, and then George said just follow if more guys go. I just sat on planning to go with Tadej if it came back in the end," he detailed. “It was still good to be there in the end for the team".

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"For me it was nice to be in the break, because I didn’t have any responsibility to pull. I wasn’t going to for the stage regardless, it was pretty relaxed just to sit on, and then take some final pulls for the team," he explained. Pogacar sprinted to take another three seconds on the competition except for Jonas Vingegaard, giving some reward to the team's hard work.

In the second rest day of the race, much needed for the team, they will look to recover to protect Pogacar ahead of two crucial stages in the Alps where his lead will be put to the test. “I am just trying to be one of Tadej’s last guys, with me, Majka and Bennett. We all try to be there as long as we can, and be there as long as possible for Tadej," he said.