Magnus Kort's long reign atop the Tour de France's mountain class gave EF Education-Easy Post (EF Education-Easy Post) a chance to show the way forward and give itself some breathing room to meet expectations, team management said.

Colt, who escaped in his native Denmark, led the mountains for more than a week before giving up the lead to Simon Geschke (Cofidis) on stage 9.

However, according to team manager Shirley Wegelius, Cort as the leader of the mountains, despite no longer being able to add to his collection of polka-dot jerseys, was an ideal start for EF Education-Easypost.

"It's a good way to set the tone for the whole group and to have a moment of pressure without having the feeling of doing absolutely nothing for the first 12 days," Wegelius told Cycling News just before the Tour's first rest day.

"Some teams will come out of the Alps and say, 'We desperately need to do something.' We want to do more than we've ever done. But it's a good stepping stone."

Overall, EF Education-Easy Post is in a good position in the Tour de France, Wegelius said. Even if the recent withdrawal of Mont Ventoux Classic winner Ruben Guerreiro due to injury is a definite downside for the team.

"Guerreiro's abandonment is very sad because he is part of the Tour and today's stage had his name written all over it. But he suffered a big blow on the first day in Denmark and he was on the road to recovery, but it didn't work out. So let's move on. He was one of our go-to guys, but that's part of the game."

Overall, though, Wegelius said, "I feel very good. On Friday, the run-in [stage 8] went well, and that was a horsepower run-in, not a technical one. [Alberto [Bettiol] is doing well, Nielson [Powles] is good.

"I think the heat is going to play a big part in the future, but in this race, everyone has dreams until the moment you are standing in the middle of the road. But we are doing everything we can and we can afford to be optimistic."

Paules, currently ninth overall and the team's highest placed GC finisher, finished fourth on the cobbled trek to Arenberg and came within a hair's breadth of taking the yellow jersey.

"He has the talent and has done the work. As for the technical aspect of riding, it's different in a one-week race than in a three-week race. But he's doing really well and we'll see how far he can go step by step."

Judging from much of the media, the way the whole Tour is unfolding, the old American proverb, "Nothing is certain in life except death and taxes," could be twisted into, "Nothing is certain in Tour 2022, but COVID and Tadei Pogachar's yellow is certain." It would be possible to twist it. But while acknowledging that COVID-19 continues to be "a cloud hanging over our heads," Wegelius is less convinced that the GC battle is already over.

"If you read the headlines, you might think there was a super-dominant Pogachar. But the time difference is still quite small. I don't intend to underestimate Jonas [Vingegaard] at all. If he has one leg up and one leg down in [Wednesday's] Granon, he won't be able to come back from that."

"So we'll see what happens. In any case, I don't think the race is as over as it looks." Wegelius does not believe in the myth that the rider who comes out on top in Thursday's Alpe d'Huez will take the yellow jersey in Paris unless disaster strikes. Interestingly, he insisted that if Pogachar was leading, he was Pogachar, not Jumbo Visma. Ineos Grenadier's strength in numbers may provide a better platform to beat him.

"If you are talking about Pogachar, it would depend on the time difference between the second and third place finishers in the Ineos Grenadiers," said Vögeleius. Incidentally, Geraint Thomas is currently third in the Ineos Grenadiers by 1 minute 17 seconds, Adam Yates is fourth by 1 minute 25 seconds, and Tom Pidcock is seventh by 1 minute 46 seconds.

"If Ineos can get multiple racers close together, they can move them from a distance to put pressure on Pogachar's team. I think they wanted that last year.

But just as the Ineos Grenadiers cannot simply rely on a carbon copy strategy of the 2021 Tour in the 2022 Tour, so too can the EF Education Easy Post and other teams, Wegelius concluded.

Obviously, there are a series of fixed elements to the race that can and must be planned against. But it would be naive to convince ourselves that we can put everything in a box in October and just copy and paste it into the following summer. Riders' recoveries go up and down, and other teams have their own plans. [Because it is naive to think that you can start a race and wake up one morning and not have to start over. Athletes like to have a clear plan, because in this sport you have to move with the times and think on your feet. Even more so in the Tour de France."

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