Tadej Pogacar 'not afraid of anyone' as he continues push for third Tour de France crown

Tadej Pogacar is confident that he is on the right track to secure a third Tour de France crown as he looks to maintain his grip on the leader's yellow jersey going into Tuesday's Stage 10.

The UAE Team Emirates rider leads by 33 seconds after an impressive start to this year's race that saw him take over the general classification lead after Stage 2, with the Slovenian continuing the scintillating form that powered him to victory in the Giro d'Italia at the first attempt in May.

Pogacar holds a healthy advantage over Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in second place, with reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) third at one minute 15 seconds, and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) fourth a further 21 seconds back.

The 2020 and 2021 champion tried to increase his lead after launching several attacks on Stage 9 but had to settle for maintaining his current advantage.

“I'm not afraid of anyone. I just need to have a good day every day like it has been every day so far,” Pogacar said on Monday's rest day. “I'm pretty satisfied in what I have been doing so far. Last year, it was all the way around. I had to close down the gap to Jonas. I managed to come to a minimum of nine seconds.

“However, this year is the other way around and I'm more comfortable now with the lead, 33 seconds ahead of Remco.

“It's not a crazy lead but also the way he's riding is super close so we can see great battles on the next stages and also other guys – Jonas and Primoz – are pretty close as well so it's better to be in the front at that point for sure, but it's not crazy big gaps.”

After Sunday's stage, Pogacar sounded bemused by Visma-Lease a Bike's strategy. “They only look at me and they underestimate the others. It could