UAE Team Emirates DS: "It's good that Tadej was able to take these 16 seconds of bonus on the first two days, it makes a difference"

The first two stages of the Tour de France have brought some conclusions, one of them being that Tadej Pogacar's form is as good as anyone could've expected, as he began taking time on Jonas Vingegaard in bonifications, despite not dropping him on the road.

"We wanted to see the real condition of Tadej and to have confirmation of the very high level of Adam Yates, and we had our two answers," UAE Team Emirates DS Mauro Gianetti said at the end of stage 2. "It was a weekend that smiled on us. I think today, we started to see the real Tour, with a battle between the two. It was nice to see. It's good that Tadej was able to take these 16 seconds of bonus on the first two days, it makes a difference. They may not win the Tour, but morally, it is an advantage."

Stage 1 saw UAE rider incredibly well, with Adam Yates taking the stage win and yellow whilst Pogacar threw away doubts of modest form. The Slovenian has attacked on both opening days but Jonas Vingegaard was the one rider who survived the accelerations - as was the case throughout much of last year's Tour. On the road the two remained together, but in the overall classification Pogacar has already won 11 seconds on the Dane - and 16 to most of the riders who arrived with the duo to both finishes.

A strong sprinting ability is behind these gains, which do not see him in yellow only as teammate Adam Yates won enough time on the road in Bilbao. However, as the race draws closer to the Pyrenees where more differences are expected, Pogacar is already trying to enter ahead of his main rival, where the battle between the two should continue.