The high mountain stages are over and tomorrow we'll arrive in Paris, where the curtain will fall on the 2025 edition of the Tour de France. In the press conference, Tadej Pogacar arrived chilled, covered with a hat and heavy jacket, because yesterday's stage, finishing in La Plagne, didn't give anything away to anyone.

"I was just counting the kilometers left to reach the finish line. I didn't attack and preferred to climb at a comfortable pace. Vingegaard preferred to follow me and Arensman was the best and won".

Yesterday was the last major challenge between Pogacar and Vinegagaard: the Dane preferred to stay glued to the Slovenian's wheel, without attacking and waiting for something to perhaps happen. That wasn't the case, and the stage victory went to the Dutchman Arensman, who won his second stage in the Grand Boucle, with Pogacar and Vingegaard climbing together to the finish line.

"The Tour de France will end in Paris and there are still 2 days left and we must remain focused. I'm happy the mountains are over, but as I said, the race ends in Paris".

The Slovenian champion was asked why in the last climb of the day he had decided not to attack and win the stage, and if behind this decision there could be fatigue or boredom from never having had a truly challenging opponent.

"They attacked me every day and I always had to defend and then respond. It's logical that there's also fatigue, every day there was fatigue. It's not easy to remain focused and motivated when you're constantly under attack. For us, the yellow jersey was the priority and that's what we did".

In Paris on the last day of the race, a sprinter has almost always won, but this year's route partially retraces the Paris 2024 Olympics route with the passage through Montmartre, and for this reason, the victory could go to a rider like Pogacar.

"I hope to arrive in Paris with the yellow jersey and then, if I have good legs, we'll have a good team for the circuit, something could happen. But I don't feel very charged at the moment to think about Sunday. Sunday's day will be really hectic at every passage, so I think it will be tough, but we'll see what happens".