Nothing goes unnoticed in the Tour de France. When Tadej Pogachar climbed into the UAE Team Emirates van just after the first stage in Bilbao, there was an immediate swarm of cameras outside.

Slovenian Pogachar apparently took an ice bath before receiving the white jersey of Best Young Rider at the podium ceremony.

Pogachar had already taken four seconds of bonus time from Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo Visma by finishing third in a stage won by Adam Yates of UAE Team Emirates. Some saw this as another blow against his rivals.

"This will probably set a new standard in the arms race for more optimal recovery methods," Jan Bakelants said on Sporza's "Vive Le Vélo" program, speculating that Pogachar might have used cryotherapy. This might be too early for Jumbo Visma."

However, at the start of the second stage in Vitoria, Adriano Rotunno, medical director of UAE Team Emirates, dismissed the idea that the ice bath was a so-called slight benefit and that Pogachar only used it to cool down after the stage He explained.

"We simply cool down in the ice bath, nothing fancy," Rotunno said, adding that the practice was more about comfort than recovery. He also noted that a prolonged ice bath immediately after the stage would do more harm than good.

"It's because prolonged submersion has been proven not to be beneficial to recovery or performance. It is purely to lower body temperature. With acute submersion, you are in and out in less than a minute at a healthy temperature."

"It's not about recovery or performance, it's about making sure the rider feels good after the stage. The longer they are submerged in the water, the worse it is for their performance. The team follows performance-based evidence and does this purely at the request of the riders."

The bath temperature, Rotunno continued, is to cool, not freeze.

"Depending on the ambient temperature and location, 10 to 15 degrees has proven to be the safest range."

When Pogachar boarded a van in Bilbao on Saturday, Soinier of UAE Team Emirates was seen admonishing a reporter who was trying to photograph him. Rotunno claimed that it was more to protect Pogachar's modesty than to keep his state-of-the-art recovery techniques out of the public eye.

"We're doing it in the van purely out of respect for the privacy of the riders, we're not trying to hide anything," Rotunno said. 'We're being as transparent as possible here. It's purely from a privacy standpoint. Frankly, I don't want to go into the bath half naked and have people look at me."

Inigo Sanmiran, head of performance in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and a native of Vitoria, echoed Rotunno's words, arguing that the benefits of ice baths in Pogachal are as much psychological as physical.

"The ice baths are good for the head. After the finish, there is an awards ceremony and no time to relax with a cold shower. 'It's a small difference, but nothing special. It's just an ice bath."

Meanwhile, team manager Mauro Gianetti explained that it was Pogachar himself who requested the ice bath; the two-time Tour winner has made no secret of his preference for cooler races over the white heat of July. Gianetti told BiciSport, "He has specifically requested ice baths for every stage of the Tour, but if the rest of the team wants to use them, that's fine."