As Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogachar strike blow after blow in the battle for the Tour de France maillot jaune, the battle for third place on the podium behind them is heating up.

Bora-Hansgrohe leader and former yellow jersey holder Jai Hindley still holds the advantage heading into the first rest day, 2:40 off the lead, but 1:42 ahead of Carlos Rodriguez of Ineos Grenadiers. advantage.

Behind the Spaniards, the Yates twins, who stole the limelight with a one-two on the first stage in Bilbao, also gained time on Hindley in the Puy de Dome and are 23 seconds back in fourth place.

Hindley was 7 seconds ahead of Adam Yates, 14 seconds ahead of Rodriguez, and 23 seconds ahead of Simon Yates, the Jayco Alura leader.

After the stage, Yates said he was still in pain after a late crash caused by a spectator's fall, according to Total Energies' Steph Klass. However, he was the best finisher among the GC men outside of Vingegaard and Pogachar, a positive as he continues to recover from the pain and stiffness in his pelvis.

"I was still sore throughout the stage," Yates said outside the team bus after the stage. On a steep climb like this, it's not so bad."

"I was pretty lucky, but there was a lot of discomfort throughout the day. We had a good rest day at the right time, so we'll try to recover as best we can and go from there."

Yates was part of an elite five-man group at the top of the Puy de Dome escarpment with Vingegaard and Pogachar and moved into seventh place overall with Rodriguez and Tom Pidcock.

He was leading the pack when Pogachar made his move with 1.5km to go. He continued to push in the pack to maintain his advantage over the riders who had already fallen.

"Those two guys didn't look like they were trying too hard, so I was waiting for a big attack," Yates said. I was also trying to maximize the gap to the guys behind me," Yates said. [I didn't want to pace myself to the top, but I didn't want to lose the advantage I gained by hanging on behind them. In the end they passed me about eight times faster than I was going, but at that point it didn't matter.

The battle for the top GC positions in the Tour is already a "race of two speeds," to paraphrase an old saying from the 1990s. At the front, Vingegaard and Pogachar are having their own battle, while the large group at the back is fighting for the rest of the podium and the rest of the top five.

This was the scenario foreseen by many before the Tour began, and Yates agreed after stage 9.

"I think it's obvious," Yates said. 'The difference in level between those two guys and the guys behind them is pretty obvious. I think the level difference between them and the other racers is pretty close." [But there's also a big gap, like Jai, the stage winner. He was over a minute and a half ahead.

"Unfortunately yesterday I crashed and lost almost a minute. But as far as climbing and riding, I think we are pretty close."

The battle for third place continues, with the next big climber set for stage 13, a 138-km climb to the summit finish of the Grand Colombier in the Alps.

"I'll give it a go," Yates vowed. I had a little bit of time with Jai today, a little bit with Rodriguez, so I'll give it a go." Who knows what will happen in the next few weeks?"