Tadej Pogacar: “We wanted to let go of the jersey” – L’Équipe

“Did you intend or not to lose the yellow jersey, because we saw you riding hard on the last climb when it was not necessary?
Yes, we wanted to drop the jersey. I know this climb towards Megève well and I actually wanted to slow down the pace. But in the end, we keep the jersey, for a few seconds (11 seconds ahead of Lennard Kämna), which suits me well too. After Laengen, you lost a second teammate, George Benett, positive for Covid, this morning. What measures are in place at UAE to protect you?
We are constantly isolated. We respect strict hygiene and we sleep alone in our rooms. But bad luck struck. We run among lots of people, whether in the peloton or on the climbs, through the crowd. There, it’s really a shame to lose Laengen and Benett. They were at high risk because they had never caught Covid. What do you have to say about the demonstration that interrupted the race?
I don’t know what happened precisely. We stopped. I heard in the headset that people were stopped on the road. We saw the police remove them. It was kind of fun, actually. But I don’t know what they claimed. »