Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has called Visma-Lease a Bike's repeated attempts to isolate and crack him during stage 10 of the Tour de France "annoying", with the world champion responding to every single one without faltering.
Matteo Jorgenson was the instigator of several moves in the final 10km, but Pogačar barely gave him a centimetre on each occasion, before growing sick of the jabs and throwing a hook of his own on the final climb, which only Visma's leader Jonas Vingegaard could follow.
Despite not distancing Vingegaard, Pogačar showed no signs of weakness. He did lose the yellow jersey, however, with Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) earning enough time from the day's breakaway to relieve the world champion of the lead.
Now in second-place overall heading, finally, into the first rest day, Pogačar only spoke to Slovenian media at the team bus, uttering more words about his rival team's tactics. The tension between UAE and Visma has been a constant storyline throughout the first 10 days, and it will only continue into the second and third weeks as the fight for yellow is decided.
"They were a bit annoying with all the attacks, so I decided to make a better attack," Pogačar told RTV Slovenia, with him and Vingegaard rolling to the line just behind Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), who had fought in the break to take the KOM jersey.
"I saw that Lenny Martinez was ahead of me from the break, and I got on his wheel and crossed the finish line behind him. It means a lot more to him than it does to me."
Pogačar, of course, respects the jersey, but couldn't hide that he was pleased about being relieved of the mandatory media duties of the current race leader. He'll be enjoying his rest day in Toulouse after 10 days of fast and furious racing, likely without much to say to the press.
His team have taken another hit, however, with sickness among their ranks.
"Of course, it's never easy to lose the yellow jersey. However, we lost João Almeida yesterday, and Pavel Sivakov is still recovering from his illness," confirmed Pogačar, with his French teammate dropping much earlier in the day than expected.
"The goal was not to let Visma attack us or to defend their attacks. We did a great job, but now it's a day off, and it's good that I don't have the yellow jersey. Honestly, I'm most happy not to be talking to journalists."
Even the best riders in the world need a break, with Pogačar later posting on Instagram: "You can't always get what you want, but we all want a rest day and tomorrow it is!"
It may have been a GC stalemate between Pogačar and Vingegaard on the first mountain stage of the 2025 race, but the drama is still to come, in the Pyrenees, Alps and on Mont Ventoux.
The gap is still just 1:17, and things are poised for the rivalry to boil over, and for one of the great champions to take either a fourth or third yellow jersey. Visma have poked the bear, but will he be rattled, or crush them even quicker as he sees the red mist?
Pogačar was isolated and irritated on stage 10, but Visma know they will need to do more than provoke him going forward. Visma's Head of Racing, Grischa Niermann, will surely be drawing up the plans for Hautacam on Thursday, as the first chance to gain back big time.
"I think UAE did a super good job, as it was not an easy day. They controlled all day and did well. Of course, they are missing João, who is not there anymore unfortunately," said Niermann at the Visma team bus, after celebrating Simon Yates' win from the breakaway.
"In the end, I think we isolated Tadej, but if he's as strong as today, then there's no way you can do a lot against him."
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