Television crews and reporters surrounded the Jumbo Visma bus as it passed the finish line in Carcassonne, making it a difficult day for race leader Jonas Vingegaard's team, which lost two teammates and suffered a crash in the stage 15 finale The reaction to the day was.

Occasionally, the drawbridges would temporarily come down and microphones would push forward as men like Christophe Laporte emerged to put the word out on the most difficult day of the Tour de France.

Twenty meters away, outside the UAE Team Emirates bus, it was rather peaceful. Tadej Pogachar arrived safely in Carcassonne in the peloton at the end of stage 15, still 2:22 behind Vingegaard in the overall standings. While the Slovenian was receiving the white jersey of best young rider on the podium, his general manager, Mauro Gianetti, was relaxing and chatting with his staff in the shade of the canopy.

UAE Team Emirates suffered setbacks in this Tour, losing Vegard Stake Rengen and George Bennett due to a positive test for COVID-19, when Jumbo Visma launched a mass attack on his overall lead in the Col du Granon on stage 11, Pogachar was left alone.

With six stages to the finish, Vingegaard's support crew was suddenly depleted, as was Pogachar, when Primoz Roglic abandoned before the start and Steven Kruijswijk left with a dislocated shoulder in a Sunday afternoon crash outside Le Ver The Tour was in a state of flux. As the Tour enters its third and final rest day, five teammates remain in each of the team buses.

Gianetti did not seem to think that the loss of two riders from Vingegaard's team would significantly change the scale of Pogachar's work in the final week of the Tour. Vingegaard and Pogachar had been the Tour's strongmen since their duel at La Planche des Belles Filles, and Gianetti insisted that the showdown between the two would ultimately decide the race.

"I don't think the race will be very different. I don't think the race will change much, because there is still a lot of climbing to do. When the climbs continue, it will come down to who is the strongest," Gianetti told Cycling News.

"It will be a battle between Pogachar and Vingegaard, and Yates, Thomas, Bardet, and Gault. The teammates are important, but most important are the legs of the leaders."

So far in this Tour, Vingegaard has had the advantage against Pogachar. The defending champion overhauled Pogachar in the final meters of La Planche des Berry Fils, but since then Vingegaard has dropped Pogachar in the Col de Granon and smoothly chased Pogachar again in the Alpe d'Huez and Mende.

Has the world changed or has Pogachar changed...... A year ago, Pogachar was untouchable in the Tour, except for the last kilometer of Mont Ventoux. But in this Tour, Vingegaard has matched, if not surpassed, Pogachar on the climbs. Janetti claimed that Pogachar is in the same condition he was in when he won two races in the Tour.

"The first week confirmed that Taddei's conditions were excellent. He had one bad day, but before that there was a 40-second gap," Gianetti said. 'Vingegaard is Vingegaard, he's not a new rider. Last year, in the second half of the Tour, he was not in a leadership role. This year he was in perfect physical condition. Vingegaard is clearly at a higher level. 0]

Pogachar's defiant acceleration in the Alpe d'Huez provided some relief after the previous afternoon's crisis in Granon, but his failure to drop Vingegaard in Saturday's finale in Mende on Saturday means that, at least in this Tour, he has finally met his partner He may have finally met his partner, at least in this Tour. More will be revealed in the Pyrenees and on the summits of Autacam and Peyragudo.

"I'm not worried. I'm in the Tour, I might win again, I might not. That's part of the sport and part of cycling. If Vingegaard is stronger, he deserves it." There is no need to stress. You just have to recognize that you have a chance and go into the race with the spirit of challenge. We have a chance to win the Tour.

While Jumbo Visma endured a critical situation on Sunday, Pogachar's UAE Team Emirates Guard showed signs of recovery in Mende, and Brandon McNulty and Rafau Mayka were the inevitable leaders on the Croix Neuve court. So did Jumbo. But the race will be decided between the leaders on the big climb."

Pogachar dismissed his coach's assessment when he spoke to reporters near the podium. He was surrounded by Jumbo Visma athletes at Granon last week, leaving him in an isolated position.

"If we had not lost Vegal and George Bennett, things would already be different," Pogachar said. . and Pogachar said."