"That must sting a bit for Pogacar" - José de Cauwer takes some conclusions from Tour de France's ninth stage

The Tour de France is set to be decided in the mountains, but leading up to it a lot is happening. Despite lacking the big climbs, the first week of the race has created large gaps and has been very fatiguing. But what we see is a fragile UAE Team Emirates - XRG in comparison to Team Visma | Lease a Bike, something Belgian commentator José de Cauwer speaks on.

"Difficult. From the moment Uno-X—I still wonder why—and the other teams started cooperating, you felt a bit of control. Then you still hoped for Van der Poel that it would work out. Especially considering the effort and the way they did it," De Cauwer said on Sporza "But then it becomes a sprint, and of course, you wish Tim Merlier the best."

The breakaway of Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert became the topic of the day, as alone - despite the help of the wind - the two averaged 50Km/h throughout the entire stage and would've taken the win if it weren't for an unlikely alliance of teams coming together in the end to bring it back for an expected sprint between Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier.

It was an unexpected story to the stage, and one that provided spice in a weekend with two pan-flat stages. "We've already said that Jasper Philipsen's loss has changed a lot. Otherwise, those guys wouldn't be attacking, and then you get a different kind of race. Which will also be the case with Almeida's loss".  

There was some GC action as well as the strong winds saw moments where Visma attempted to split the peloton once again. It wasn't to be, but several times Tadej Pogacar was isolated whilst Jonas Vingegaard had several domestiques around him. "The moment Wellens is dropped, I expect Nils Politt to be there. He's a man with the body who had to be there".

"I didn't see Narvaez, nor Sivakov, so he was often alone. And then at a certain point you see Visma | Lease a Bike there with four or five riders, with Campenaerts, Affini, and Vingegaard. That must sting a bit for Pogacar, knowing that Almeida is gone".

In the mountains, this may make more of a difference: "Just domestique Almeida, who, in principle, would still be the last man there if there were problems. That should now be covered by Adam Yates. He's kept pretty calm so far, we hope. But Almeida has a bit more body".

On Quick-Step however, de Cauwer has seen enough, and after three stage wins the pressure is completely off the team after only nine days of racing. "The team is completely back with Remco and Schachmann, although they've never really been away. But on the first day, you would have thought: oh dear, what's this going to be like? But now that team is in top form and ready."