The presence of Tadei Pogachal poses a glass ceiling to the rest of the Tour de France peloton. Even past winners are not immune. Geraint Thomas, fresh off his Tour de Suisse victory, has ambitions beyond the podium he currently occupies, but he also knows that Pogachar is a unique obstacle.

"I think he is a step above," Thomas told reporters on Monday's rest day.

"Nibali and Contador were great climbers, and Froome was good at climbing and time trials. But Pogachar has everything. He can sprint, he can run on cobblestones. It's phenomenal. I can't see him not being the favorite for the next five or six years."

The future, of course, is unwritten, but right here and now, Pogachar is the man most likely to carry the yellow jersey to Paris for a third consecutive year. As the race heads high into the Alps, he leads Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) by 39 seconds, with Thomas in third at 1:17.

The British team left Copenhagen with a multi-pronged approach to the Pogachar conundrum, and while Daniel Martinez's attempt fell short on Sunday, Thomas, Yates, and debutant Tom Pidcock (7th in 1 hour 46 minutes) have been on a steady course so far have charted a steady course. The problem, of course, is that Pogachar is running at a speed that no one will be able to catch him for a long time.

The headline in L'Équipe on Monday morning was provocative: "Why didn't anyone attack Pogachar on the road to Chatel on Sunday? The answer, Yates explained simply, had to do with the calmness of the terrain and the strength of Pogachar's UAE team, the Emirates Guard.

"I asked the same question to everyone else, not just us," Yates said. 'At this point, we didn't feel we needed to do anything. The climb wasn't too steep and the UAE was keeping a good pace. In those conditions, it would not be wise to attack."

Thomas reiterated Yates' point by emphasizing that Ineos' numerical strength as the overall leader did not necessarily translate into superiority on the road. And even if Ineos does cause problems on the road for Pogachar, the Slovenian will back himself to fix them.

"It's one thing to have the numbers, it's another to have the right situation to actually use them. Thomas admitted that it was an unknown whether Pidcock would be able to stay the course. 'Other teams may not see him as the biggest threat, but we also don't know how far he can run.'

Fresh off winning this race in 2018 and winning the Tour de Suisse, Thomas is ambitious enough not to settle for a podium finish at this early stage, but it remains to be seen how much he and his team are willing to risk to break the previously unassailable Pogachar.

"Whether it's going to be a crazy long run depends on the risk, but honestly, especially after the last few years, I'm proud to be on the podium again and prove people wrong," Thomas said. 'But I've won some, I've finished second. Just to be on the podium is of course amazing, but I definitely want to win races. The main thing is that I have no regrets in Paris and that I did everything I could to win the race."

The second week of the Tour will feature three consecutive days in the Alps, but Tuesday's short stage to Megève is a potential pit stop, while the following stages to the Col de Granon and Alpe d'Huez are likely to be separated.

"We'll run the Galibier before the Granon. It will be the first big test," Thomas said. The Alpe d'Huez is phenomenal and the heat will definitely add something to the race." It's three days in a row in the Alps, so that will be decisive as well."

Four years ago, Thomas broke away from the lead pack at La Rosière and Alpe d'Huez to lay the foundation for back-to-back Tour victories in the Alps; 21 hairpins remain his 2018, but the Tour's terrain is very different. Then again, in this exposed corner of the world, a lot can happen in three days.

"At the moment, Vingegaard and Pogachar are riding very strongly. 'The yellows we've earned have raised the bar for all of us. It might reaffirm what we think and leave us with a few questions."