Regarding the condition of João Almeida, who had to retire after a fall, Joxean Matxin left no room for doubt: “João is fine. I talk to him a lot. His rib still hurts a bit, but he’s recovered from the rest of his injuries. It’s not a complicated fracture. At the time it was impossible to continue racing. Now it’s time to rest, recover and prepare for the Vuelta. The plan is to be there at one hundred percent.”As for Pogacar, the decision on whether or not he will ride the Vuelta a Espana will only be made after the Tour. As for Juan Ayuso, the initial plan remains the same, but Matxin doesn’t rule out a change if the young Spanish talent has to be used.
Tadej Pogacar remains the undisputed leader of the race but, as the UAE’s sports director reminds us, nothing is guaranteed until Paris. “You always have to take precautions. For example, on the day of the Tourmalet there was a tricky descent. It was foggy and the ground was wet. These conditions force you to decide how to descend. It wasn’t a day to take risks,” explained the coach, who also praised the role of the Slovenian’s teammates.
One of the highlights is, unsurprisingly, Jhonatan Narváez, who has been the last man standing before the Slovenian’s attacks and is 14th overall despite riding fully in support of his leader. “It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jonny is one of the best in the world at five-minute efforts,” Matxin points out.
“But here he’s adapted to being more than that, just like Tadej or Van der Poel. He was fundamental in those five minutes on the Hautacam, on Mur de Bretagne… He came mainly for that kind of action and we planned it that way, but he also knew, like on Saturday, how to adapt to longer efforts,” said Matxin.