As Tadej Pogačar took another chunk of time out of his Tour de France lead, Jonas Vingegaard has denied that he is feeling anxious. The gap between the two has dropped into the single digits after the Slovenian grabbed another eight seconds on the summit of the Grand Colombier on stage 13.
Just as on the Puy de Dôme on stage 9, the Jumbo-Visma racer was not able to match the Slovenian's explosive attack. He held on until the final 100 metres then limited the gap to just four seconds plus the four-second time bonus Pogačar gained for third place on the stage.
Vingegaard remains sure of his chances, he insisted, even if the margins were reduced for a third day in the mountains and the memories of his successful attack on the opening stage of the Pyrenees are beginning to fade in the Tour's rearview mirror.
Asked directly if he was anxious, Vingegaard answered simply "No. I mean if I win I win, if not then I don't win. I'll just do my best and we'll see in Paris."
Two brutally difficult days in the Alps are up next for the Tour peloton, and another two very tough stages will follow Monday's second and final rest day, which will collectively prove a much bigger test of climbing strength.
Perhaps with that in mind, Vingegaard is certain that the current minimal gaps at the top of GC will be much broader by the end of the race. He was also adamant that he had yet to produce his best performances and his condition was improving.
"I think history has shown the Tour has never been decided on seconds or maybe but there's always something happening on the really long, hard stages," he argued.
"I'm confident in myself. I'm always confident in what I believe are my strengths. I'm excited to see what happens in the next days.
"I feel better and better and I'm happy with where my shape is. I think the Tour de France will be decided in the next week, so once again I'll do my very best and then we'll see."
Vingegaard explained that the lack of Jumbo-Visma riders with him on the Grand Colombier was a deliberate tactic, given that UAE Team Emirates were pushing hard for Pogačar and he was confident of his own capacity to come through the ascent well.
"We knew they wanted to make the last climb hard so that means we said to a lot of our guys go easy from the bottom. We did a good job today," he argued.
The longer the Tour continues, as Vingegaard and Pogačar continue to trade blows, the more obvious it is that the two are operating at a level above the rest.
"I think it's a very nice rivalry we have. He's definitely one of the best bike riders in the world – if not the best. He's a very hard opponent," Vingegaard argued.
Kuss: 'We're still in the lead, we're still happy'
Sepp Kuss was the one Jumbo-Visma rider who stayed close to Vingegaard all the way to the top, only falling behind the final kilometre. It's a role he played to perfection in the Giro d'Italia this year, arguably saving Primož Roglič's race on one occasion when the Slovenian was close to cracking.
In the Tour, Kuss is once again fulfilling a role as Jumbo-Visma's top climbing domestique and despite the minor time loss for his leader, the American said afterwards he felt more than satisfied with how the stage had played out.
"I think it was a fine day for us, pretty straightforward, we expected UAE to control and we knew it would be a finish that suited Pogačar really well."
"It turned out more or less like we expected, with a really explosive final kilometre. The full bonus seconds weren't available, but he [Pogačar] did get some and some time difference, but tomorrow will a really important day as well so maybe it'll put four seconds into perspective."
"We're still in the lead, and we're still happy."
The question of whether it might have been better if Pogačar had taken the lead by a second or two was one that Kuss said was "hard to answer."
"There's controlling the stage at the beginning and riding at the front, but we have our own plan and it's good that we're still in the lead and with the yellow jersey."
Regarding his team leader, Kuss said "he was really good. It's hard to tell on a climb like this when it's so easy all day and it comes down to more or less the last 500 metres."
"But he's riding really strong and looking forward to the high mountain stages."
