Geraint Thomas has three minutes on his nearest rival for third place in the Tour de France after stage 18 but he hasn't started counting his prize money just yet.
Asked whether he feels confident of his podium spot, Thomas replied: "I wouldn't tempt fate."
He sees Friday's 188.3km stage 19 slog through the searing heat of southwest France as a mild concern to his seemingly secured podium spot.
"We still have tomorrow, crosswinds all day. It's just, nothing’s too straightforward in this race," he said.
Thomas rode to fourth place on the stage to Hautacam on Thursday, distancing the remainder of the top 10 in the general classification. However, he was racing in the distant wake of Jonas Vingegaard who finished nearly three minutes ahead of Thomas was fourth behind the yellow jersey, his rival Tadej Pogačar, and the inimitable Wout van Aert.
Vingegaard has been unflappable during a Tour de France that is on track to break the average speed record, set in 2003.
Thomas credited the record pace partly to the wind conditions, but largely to the style of racing.
"We've had a lot of tailwind to be fair," he said. "There's not many days without headwind but yeah, just the way we're racing – you know every day is like full gas for the break.
"We've had two bunch sprints. Two. That's crazy. Like full bunch sprints – and that was in Denmark, not even France."
The Hautacam stage was another aggressive day of racing, with Vingegaard jumping away to finish ahead of Pogačar by over a minute. The result came as no surprise to Thomas.
"I said that this morning - somebody asked me who's gonna win [the Tour], and I said Vingegaard," Thomas said after the stage finish.
"He's just been super strong. You know, he's ridden a great race. He responded to everything and you could tell he had more in reserve. So chapeau to him."
While Thomas struggled to keep pace with the Tour leader, he rode with control to secure his podium spot.
"It was just a bit going through highs and lows today it felt like. I felt alright when it started kicking off. I thought I'd ride my own pace."
"I wanted to try and stay with them until that steep bit [on the Hautacam] - because that's the fastest bit - and just ride my own pace.
"I struggled there, I had a bit of a bad patch, but then came around a bit - once I changed my bike actually. I had a puncture… then it was just a case of following Dani and he did a great job."
After making his way back to the lead GC group following several Pogačar attacks on the Col de Spandelles, Thomas attacked himself on the second to last climb. He opened a small gap to Pogačar and Vingegaard, but they soon counter-attacked and left Thomas 30 seconds behind at the climb's summit.
"I just keep riding my pace," Thomas said of the attack.
"And everyone's banging on about when I'm going to attack, so at least there was one TV attempt for everyone at home."
