The Tour de France yellow jersey traditionally holds press conferences on rest days, but Jumbo Visma has even removed that courtesy in recent years.

Jonas Vingegaard was unavailable to the press in Clermont-Ferrand on Monday, and instead the team limited his interview to a pre-recorded oven interview.

"The interview was conducted by Danish TV2. Please mention." That's done.

As expected, the Tour is now a battle between defending champion Vingegaard and two-time winner Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates).

"There is already a big gap in the standings because third place is currently 2:40 behind," Vingegaard said of his showdown with Pogachar. So if one of us wasn't there, it might not have been a fun Tour de France to watch."

At one point it looked as if Vingegaard would be knocked out early when he gained more than a minute on Pogachar on the road to Larns on stage 5. However, Pogachar won the next two rounds and then won the next day in Autres, beating Vingegaard, and on Sunday in the Puy de Dome by another eight seconds.

In the overall standings, Pogachar was only 17 seconds behind Vingegaard's lead and appeared to be gaining momentum as the race entered its second week. However, in a transcript of an interview published Monday evening, Vingegaard suggested that the terrain ahead (especially in the Alps over the weekend) suited his qualities.

"Yes, it does. At least it has been so far. And that's what I believe can make the difference on longer, harder days. I think the more fatigue I get as I go through the Tour, the better it will be for me," Vingegaard said.

"There are more than one mountain in the coming stages, ups and downs throughout the day, and not just a summit finish. So far, the only time I've been fatigued is on stage 5 with Marie Blanquet. That's the day that suits me best, and there are more days in the next two weeks that suit me better."

After Vingegaard pulled away from Pogachar on the Marie Blanquet pass on Wednesday, Jumbo Visma looked set for a big attack on the Tourmalet pass the following afternoon. But the day ended with a strong ride by Pogachar on the Puy de Dome.

"I'm pretty happy with the results so far," said Vingegaard. "At the moment I am behind and I thought I would have to start to make up time. But that's not the scenario at the moment. I'm very happy to be ahead. Yesterday I lost eight seconds, but I don't think eight seconds can decide who wins."

The Tour resumes on Tuesday with the first of three days of stages that normally favor the breakaway. After all, in the modern Tour, every day is GC day.

Nevertheless, Friday's summit finish on the Grand Colombier is likely to be the next rendezvous for the mountain stages leading to Morzine and St. Gervais Mont-Blanc. Says Vingegaard. I have great faith in what we can do up there. I believe I can win the Tour again this year. And I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen."

A year ago, Jumbo Visma had Vingegaard and Primoš Roglic (absent this year due to his Giro d'Italia win) attack repeatedly on the Galibier Pass on stage 11 to take Pogachar's yellow.

Asked if Jumbo Visma has a similar strategy to "beat" Pogachar again in 2023, Vingegaard said, "Yes, we have a plan for that," but would not say more, even to the TV2 interviewer. 'We are not going to tell you. That's for you to see."