Tadej Pogacar sprints for bonus seconds on stage 1 but on stage 2 expects "more battle on the climb and also bigger differences"

There's not one day where Tadej Pogacar isn't in the eye of spectators in a cycling race. Today at the Tour de France UAE Team Emirates changed plans during the stage, but despite not going on the attack, Tadej Pogacar still went on to sprint for bonifications but came up just short of succeeding.

"It was a very good first day. We tested our legs on the climbs with a good pace. I felt good, even in the heat. That is a big bonus for me," Pogacar said in a post-race interview. UAE were expected to test Jonas Vingegaard who came into the race with unknown form, and that seemed to be the case when on the second climb of the day Tim Wellens and Pavel Sivakov hit the front. The peloton lost many men including climbers such as David Gaudu and Lenny Martínez and stage favourites such as Michael Matthews and Mathieu van der Poel. But on the third ascent they left the front of the group, most likely as Spaniard Juan Ayuso looked to be in trouble at the back of the peloton.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike then took hold of the group, and although he was close to being dropped, Ayuso arrived in the peloton. UAE did not attack and did not hit the front again however. "With four kilometers to go they still had 25 seconds. So I thought it would work out. That's why I also participated in the sprint," he says, explaining why he then went to fight for the sprint. "That way I could still grab bonus seconds with a podium. In addition, I just really like mass sprints of a thinned out peloton. All in all it was an exciting and good day."

He was second in the peloton, fourth on the day, just one spot down on the bonus seconds that were taken by Wout van Aert. "At the end I threw myself into the sprint. I saw an opening. I almost beat two of the fastest men in this peloton, Mads and Wout. Unfortunately, I was just not that lucky. But also congratulations to today's winners: Bardet and Van den Broek. They really rode great and deservedly won," he added.

Stage 2 will see a double ascent of the Madona di San Luca climb, very steep and often used at the Giro dell'Emilia. Pogacar can attack, and is in fact expected to as today was only a small gauge to Jonas Vingegaard's form - and because on such a climb, differences can be made. "'I expect the race to be more open tomorrow, more battle on the climb and also bigger differences," he anticipates.