Greig Leach

The two favorites of the Tour had gotten off the front together on the way up the penultimate climb of the day. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) had worked together to gain an advantage on the two that were chasing. These two represent first and third overall, and the next two on the road are second and fourth, so it was in their mutual interest to put as much time between them as possible. Stage nine had generated a lot of trash talk about how Vingegaard was just racing for the numbers and should have help pull when he, Remeco Evenepoel and Pogacar had escaped off the front. The two main trash talkers were the two unable to go with the attack. There is an old adage in cycling, "Let your legs do the talking" I wonder if Vingegaard is considering an attack of his own as these two near the summit of the Col de Font de Cere. Either that or he is looking to make sure that Pogacar is on his limit and won't go again himself. I guess the final possibility is that he is convincing his rival to keep riding together to their mutual gain.