Defending Tour de France champion Tadej Pogachar and UAE Team Emirates have ruled out the possibility that the Slovenian will try to use Saturday's summit finish at Mende to gain time on race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) was ruled out.

The brutally steep 3km climb to the Mende airfield has sparked sparks in the GC in the past, but with the exception of the debut of Laurent Jalabert and his ONCE team in 1995, when they launched an epic long-distance attack on Miguel Indurain in yellow, sparks have rarely sparked an overall battle rarely became a factor in the overall fight.

In 2018, on the climb before that, Primoš Roglic was a few seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome in first and second place overall. And in 2015, Nairo Quintana moved into second place ahead of Tejay Van Garderen. [It would be premature for Pogachar to try to reduce the Dane's time, especially since he was 2:22 ahead of Vingegaard on stage 14.

"Tomorrow [Saturday] is a good stage and the final will be very interesting. I think tomorrow will be an explosive race, but probably not as big [and important] as Thursday," Pogachar told reporters after taking the latest white jersey as leader of the Best Young Rider standings.

"I've never seen it in person, but I've seen it on video.

Pogachar only smiled politely and did not say whether he found the climb inspirational. But his neutral attitude is understandable, given that he has performed well on relentlessly steep climbs in races such as Tirreno-Adriatico this spring, for example. Also recently, on Wednesday, he encountered a memorable and difficult situation on the Col de Granon, a formidable climb.

UAE Team Emirates itself was neutral about Pogachar's chances in Mende, preferring to kick the way into the mountains for the third week rather than risk expending significant energy for a small gain.

"There is only one climb, and with the Pyrenees coming up soon, there are plenty of places to try something," team manager Mauro Gianetti told Cycling News after the 13th stage.

"It's hard to shorten the time compared to the physical exertion.

"Even on a stage like today [stage 13], the riders are worn out. When you choose to move, you have to choose well."

Gianetti claimed that Pogachar and his team had already recovered in the Alpe d'Huez and that the Slovenian's performance there was as important to his morale as the actual result.

Rivals and the public aside, "for Tadej it was important to see for himself what he could still do after the "bonk" the day before. And now he can move forward."

Long-term, Pogachar firmly believes in the potential of the Yellow Jersey.

"The legs feel very good and there is still a long way to go. But it remains to be seen if Mende will be part of that process.