Pogacar looking to attack Vingegaard again in Mende: "My legs feel really good"

The Tour de France is made of 21 stages and in each the race can be won or lost. Today's hilly stage in the Massif Central will prove to be a challenge to many, due to the heat and the horribly steep final ascent where Tadej Pogacar has an opportunity to get closer to the yellow jersey.

"Tomorrow [today] is a nice stage, the final is very interesting and I think it will be explosive tomorrow, but probably not as big as Thursday," Pogacar told reporters after stage 13, where he stayed safe in the peloton as the breakaway took the glory on the day. In a more explosive environment today, he should fare better than his rival Jonas Vingegaard who is more of a pure climber. The climbs to the Côte de la Croix Neuve averages more than 10% for over three kilometers, and the UAE Team Emirates rider has time to recover.

"I haven't seen it in person but I have seen it in video and I must say it's a nice climb. My legs feel really good, there is still a long way to go, and still a few hard stages where you can take a lot of time," he said. On such gradients Jumbo-Visma will not have the same possibilities of controlling the race, and UAE Team Emirates manager Mauro Gianetti has shared the ambition.

"It's one ascent, and with the Pyrenees coming up fast, we've got a lot of ground to try something. It's difficult to gain much time compared to how much energy you put out and particularly with everything that's still ahead of us," he said.