The mood on the Jumbo-Visma bus was quiet and calm as Jonas Vingegaard warmed down on the turbo trainer after stage 5 of the Tour de France.

No gut-punching, no little celebration. Perhaps Vingegaard and his team are well aware that the first stage in the Pyrenees is only the first battle won in three weeks of racing.

"We wanted to test him a little bit, and his legs were good, so I'm super happy with where we are," explained Vingegaard, expressing his satisfaction to the media gathered on the Jumbo-Visma bus after the warm-down. [I'm] very happy because I was able to shave a minute off my time.

Vingegaard pulled away from Pogachar in the last 2 km of the Marie Blanc pass.

Vingegaard caught the rest of the breakaway group at the top of the climb, but Pogačar couldn't get out of the way and lost more and more time; in the Laruns valley finish, which Pogačar won in 2020, the Slovenian was the hunted instead of the hunter and Vingegaard 1:04 ahead of his bigger rival.

Vingegaard was 47 seconds behind stage winner and new race leader Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), but already 53 seconds ahead of Pogachar in the overall standings. However, he refuted any suggestion that he was the heavy favorite to win the overall or that Pogachar was finished as a competitor.

"I don't know about that. I just have to do my best and see what happens in Paris. I just feel good and I see myself. If I feel good, I'll attack."

"Taddei never gives up, and I'm very happy with 53 seconds. Of course we have to keep an eye on Jai Hindley as well."

Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma did not expect Pogachar to lose his usual facade and to reduce his time so easily and so quickly. Thursday's mountain finish in Cautaret-Cambasque and subsequent entry into the Alps seemed a more likely place for the two favorites to make a difference.

"We were going to put one or two into the break as satellite riders. The result was even better because we ended up with three in the break, and everyone did really well today," Vingegaard praised his Jumbo-Visma teammates.

"It was good for us that we didn't have to pull in the pack. I was feeling good on the last climb and I told Sepp he should go to the front and start pushing. He did. That was the end."