Tadej Pogačar put his time loss on stage 5 of the Tour de France in perspective after unexpectedly shedding 1:04 to maillot jaune rival Jonas Vingegaard on the Col de Marie Blanque.
The race's first Pyrenean stage was set to host the next part of the pair's showdown following a flurry of attacks at the Grand Départ in the Basque Country, but the two-time champion had no answer when the Dane made his move on the day's final climb.
He'd roll home in Laruns 53 seconds down on Vingegaard with another tough mountain stage coming up on Thursday, but after the stage, he had greater concerns.
"After the race, it was pretty good, but then I'm more sad to hear that my girlfriend [Urška Žigart] crashed today in the Giro and she maybe has a concussion," Pogačar told the assembled media after crossing the finish line.
"So that is maybe a bit more sad news than losing 50 seconds to Jonas, or one minute, so let's go day-by-day."
Žigart, who rides for Jayco-AlUla, left the Giro d'Italia Donne on stage 6 after going down hard at the rear of the peloton and inadvertently taking out stage 5 winner Antonia Niedermaier of Canyon-Sram. The team has yet to provide a definitive update as to her condition.
Pogačar will have to refocus quickly for stage 6 of the Tour de France, another multi-mountain day featuring the Col du Tourmalet and a summit finish at Cauterets.
Whether he can stick with Vingegaard or even claw back some time remains to be seen, though he'll certainly hope to avoid a repeat of being put to the sword by his rival and teammate Sepp Kuss as he did on Wednesday afternoon.
"When Sepp Kuss went really hard on the climb, I think [Jonas] could see that I was a bit going full gas, so he tried to attack and I couldn't follow because he was stronger today.
"The last 2km on the climb, for sure," he said when asked if he was on the limit. "But I hope for better legs tomorrow. I think it's going to be OK. It's still a long way and I feel OK – that is the more important thing."
Gianetti – 'We're on the fifth stage and it's still a long Tour'
With riders not venturing out of the team bus to speak to the press after a tough day for the team, it was up to UAE Team Emirates principal Mauro Gianetti to try and explain what had happened in the preceding four hours.
He spoke at length to the massed press camped outside the UAE team bus in Laruns, saying that Pogačar's lead-up to the Tour – his recovery from a broken wrist resulted in only two race days in June – was a factor in the events of stage 5.
"After the stage in Bilbao we were hoping that there wasn't so much difference between him and Vingegaard but here we see the reality," Gianetti said. "If you cannot make the real training, the real plan, to be ready for the Tour it's no secret, no?
"We were hoping that Tadej could be different but in fact, Jonas is very strong and in good shape. They did very well as a team and that's the reality of today."
Gianetti went on to say that he didn't think that the difference between the two contenders was as big as the time gap showed.
"I don't think the difference is so big because when you're in front you take more morale and you're more motivated. When you are dropped, you lose the motivation a bit. I'm thinking it's possible to close this gap.
"We need to keep the morale, the motivation, and the passion for this sport for the next weeks. I'm sure he's hoping to give the show to the public that they are waiting for."
He added that – as most directors, managers, and riders are saying this evening – that the Tour is long and it's still early.
The gaps from Pogačar to race leader Jai Hindley and Vingegaard might already be large, but there are still plenty of opportunities to take those valuable seconds back.
"We were hoping that he'd be in good condition, but we knew from the beginning, from the crash in Liège, that it would be difficult to be at 100%," Gianetti said.
"Now we're here and we respect the race, we are fighting from the first day with the yellow jersey from the first days, and we take our responsibility to be in this moment just 50 seconds behind Vingegaard and 1:50 behind Hindley. We're on the fifth stage and it's still a long Tour."
