Greig Leach

Quite a lot was said before the start of the first time trial of this edition of the Tour de France about where Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) was after losing time in the only ITT at the Criterium Dauphine. Today he answered everyone with his legs! As he rode the final twists and turns of the thirty-three kilometer course, we all wondered if he might actually win the stage. He didn't. But he only missed by a mere sixteen seconds. While he didn't out ride Remco Evenepoel, he is forty-two seconds ahead of him in the general classification. With this title, I was sort of going for the joke that he was riding out of his skin, or should I say his polka dotted skinsuit. Actually, he claimed the Maillot Jaune today, but he still the owner of the Maillot a Pois. His second place today also claimed in the Maillot Vert. While I doubt he will hold all three when we reach Paris, the only guy to ever do that was Eddy Merckx, he sure is making it look like it will be a tough race for everyone else. He and the team had made an effort to make sure he wouldn't be in an RSO issued leaders skinsuit fearing that it would be as fast as his team's own. Clearly, it didn't slow him down. Or maybe it did. Had he been in his regular team kit would he have won the stage, too?