Once again in the Tour de France, overall leader Tadej Pogachar was seen sprinting after his rival Jonas Vingegaard in second place.

At Altiport, overlooking the luxury ski resort of Megève in the Alps, the mini-battle over the summit of La Super Planche des Belle Filles and Chatel once again unfolded.

Nine minutes earlier, Magnus Court of EF Education-Easy Post added a stage win to his polka-dot jersey collection. Twenty-two seconds after the Dane, Bora-Hansgrohe climber Leonard Kemna jumped up 20 places on GC, 8:43 behind Pogachar, and headed home, awaiting news on whether he had the yellow jersey that was unlikely to leave the Slovenian's shoulders before Paris. Rolling in.

In the end, the Germans only moved up 19 places, with Pogachar keeping the maillot jaune by 11 seconds, while UAE Team Emirates was weakened by the transfer of Vegard Stake Rengen and George Bennett to COVID-19.

"At first I didn't want to lose them. But in the end everything worked out."

"Again, I didn't need to go full pace. I knew this climb and it wasn't anything special, so I slowed down, but in the end I was happy to keep the jersey for a few seconds."

The race will now move deeper into the Alps, where Pogachar will meet the summit finish at the Col de Granon. Also, perhaps the strongest mountain domestique, Rafau Mica, will only race after testing positive for COVID-19 and further analysis revealed low viral levels.

The team will continue to monitor Paul, who will continue to race under the same rules that were applied to Bob Jungels before Grande Pearl. Pogachar said in response to the two teammates who tested positive and subsequently left the race.

"It's a really bad situation here. Both George and Vegard were high risk and never had COVID." [We are constantly isolated. It's just bad luck to race in a big group and be surrounded by crowds on the climbs. When we are on the road, we are in close proximity to many people. I think our team takes adequate precautions."

"We have strict hygiene and we are the only ones in the room. We try to be alone as much as possible. The only way to be positive in your own personal bubble is to worry and stress.

According to team doctor Adriano Rotunno, UAE Team Emirates "tests every day or every other day" at the Tour.

Despite rivals saying the UAE is not as strong as it appears, they coped well with reduced numbers on the road to Megeve.

The stage passed with few incidents for the big names at the top of the rankings, except for a final dash where the GC contenders were classified at the same time.

However, in the final stages, protesters blocked the road with 35km to go. The group was chained together, nailed to the road, and red flares were set off, forcing the breakaway and peloton to stop.

Pogachar, who was running a few minutes behind in the peloton, stood on the grass at the side of the road during the stop, smiling for the cameras as he waited. He shared his reaction to the incident at a post-race press conference.

"I don't know. I just stopped," he replied when asked by Cycling News what he thought about the protest. 'I heard on the radio that a bunch of people were standing in the road. I had to stop. [I saw the police taking some people away. It was a funny moment. But I forget about it and I don't really know what it was. So nothing special."