The Slovenian praised the Dane's efforts following the second week.

After wrapping up the second week with another victory on Stage 15, Tadej Pogacar went into the second rest day closer to a final Tour de France win, more than three minutes ahead of rival Jonas Vingegaard.

“The rest day is going well. We went for a short walk as a team. We stopped at the bakery. Don’t tell my nutritionist, but I ate the best cupcake of my life,” said Joao Almeida’s Emirates teammate, visibly excited, at a rest day press conference on Monday.

“Yesterday we did one of the best climbs in history. I achieved the best times of my career,” said the yellow jersey about the final ascent of yesterday’s stage, the Peel Plateau, where he broke Marco Pantani’s record, climbing the 15.7km in 39.44 minutes, almost 4 minutes faster than the Italian did in 1998.

As for Jonas Vingegaard, who he had criticised in the first week for his defensive position, the Slovenian was this time impressed by his position on Sunday's stage. “Yesterday Jonas came looking for the victory and finally showed all his courage, at the end. They had a great race,” noted the Emirates pilot, congratulating Visma and its leader on their efforts on the stage.

For the third week of the Tour, the general classification and points leader says he is “fearing nothing” and promises “fireworks”, pointing to Saturday's stage between Nice and Col de la Coyole as his favourite of the past week: “It's like running at home, I train a lot there.”

Before concluding his remarks, the 25-year-old, who is closing in on winning the Giro and Tour in the same year, a feat last achieved by Marco Pantani in 1998, discussed the possibility of competing in the Vuelta a España, in the hunt for a trio. “I won’t say 100 percent, but it’s 99 percent certain that I won’t go to the Vuelta this year,” he concluded.

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