Tadej Pogacar arrives at the first rest day of the Tour de France wearing the yellow jersey and with the feeling of having full control of the race. In the ninth stage, finishing in Ussel, the Slovenian champion of UAE Team Emirates-XRG chose a different approach compared to the previous days: no unconditional free rein for the breakaway riders, but neither an assault on the stage victory. Mathieu Van der Poel's attack made it to the finish line, while Pogacar crossed the line in the group of the best riders, maintaining without difficulty his lead in the general classification.

It was nonetheless a far from simple day. The scorching heat put the peloton to the test and, as if that weren't enough, UAE also had to deal with some radio communication problems that complicated race management.

«Yesterday we had no intention of chasing down the breakaway - Pogacar explained after the finish - When the radio doesn't work, you have to communicate a lot with your teammates during the race. Our plan was simply to control the gap. As Tim Wellens had said, we needed to keep the breakaway riders at around one minute. Then Netcompany INEOS started pulling to try to win the stage with Filippo Ganna, but in the end the breakaway managed to reach the finish line. It was a really very tough day».

After nine intense stages, the first rest day comes at the right moment. The Slovenian doesn't hide the need to recover energy before the second week, which will open with a challenging stage in the Massif Central, characterized by almost 3,800 meters of elevation gain.

«I hope the rest day is peaceful. We'll do an easy ride and try to recover in the best way possible».

But those who know Pogacar know well that he will hardly limit himself to defending the advantage he has built up. The world champion is a rider who loves to attack and doesn't rule out returning to the spotlight already in the tenth stage.

«Playing only on defense? I don't really think that's my style. Of course, the main objective is to keep the yellow jersey, but sometimes the best defense is actually a good attack. You never know what can happen. We'll see in the coming days».

Words that sound almost like a warning to his rivals. Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and the other general classification contenders know that the Tour is still very long. But they also know that when Pogacar feels he has the right legs, he rarely waits for others. The yellow jersey sits firmly on his shoulders, but the desire to win, as always, doesn't seem to have stopped.