It's a long week in the Tour de France. When Tadej Pogachar won stage 7 on the summit of La Planche des Belle Filles to retain his overall lead, it seemed the race was destined to follow a similar path to last year. Once again, the Slovenians seemed to have the freedom to win as they pleased.

In the seven days since then, Pogachar has experienced some rare "losses" at the Tour. First, he lost two teammates who tested positive for COVID-19. Then he lost the yellow jersey and three minutes to Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on the Granon Pass on stage 11. And now he has lost, at least temporarily, the aura of invincibility that made him a strong contender for a third consecutive Tour victory.

After surviving Jumbo-Visma's onslaught on Telegraph and Galibier, Pogachar suddenly ran out of steam in the last 5km of Granon. He did what he could to limit the damage, but the time and momentum were heavily tilted in Vingegaard's favor. That night, the atmosphere at the UAE Team Emirates hotel was simply peaceful.

"We were disappointed, Tadej was obviously disappointed, but there was no negative energy. 'You have to take things as they are. Some days you win, some days you lose. You have to keep the same attitude, the same mindset."

McNulty is one of Pogachar's key climbing domestiques in this Tour, but the American, like his leader, has endured a testing second week. He was quickly separated by Jumbo-Visma's long-distance attack on the Galibier, but even as Marc Soler and Rafal Mayka later crawled to Pogachar's side, the Slovenian was heavily outnumbered by Vingegaard's group in the finale.

"It was a bit up and down, I felt really good the first week, and the first day after the rest day. The last few days have been tough, but I think we can come back next week in the Pyrenees."

With George Bennett diagnosed with COVID-19 and forced to pull out of the race before the Alps, McNulty's importance will only increase. The pressure on climbers like me, Majka, and Soler is a little bit higher," he said. But right now we're focusing on recovery, and next week we'll be as fresh as possible."

Twelve months ago, the relative strength of Pogachar's supporting cast was questioned before the Tour, but his UAE Team Emirates guard comfortably handled the burden of defending the yellow jersey for two weeks. This time, however, even as Pogachar picked up the yellow in the first week, there were suggestions that his team might not have the strength to defend it.

On Friday evening in Saint-Etienne, McNulty admitted that it may have been a minor mercy that he was relieved of his yellow defensive duty following the retirements of Bennett and Vegard Stake Rengen.

"In a way," he said. 'Losing the jersey sucks. But it's hard to control a stage like the one we had this weekend, and while being two minutes behind isn't good, it's also good not to have to control the race."

As in 2020, Jumbo Visma will have to police the peloton, but Pogachar is back in the role of destroyer, 2:22 behind in second place. In his early career, Pogachar has won on all terrains and in all ways, but reversing this underdog position - and against Vingegaard - will be his toughest challenge to date.

"Last year I took the jersey early and kept it. Now obviously the position is different. Last year I took the jersey early and kept it. It's going to be tough to come back from such a bad position. But we're all determined to do it. UAE Team Emirates manager Mauro Gianetti dismissed the idea that Saturday's journey from Masif Santoral to Mende could be a platform for an ambush. The day after the setback at Granon, Pogachar continued to accelerate on the Alpe d'Huez.

"I think he wanted to see how his legs were doing," Pogachar said. There are still signs of a comeback. Easier said than done, but I'm sure he'll do it."