UAE Team Emirates sport director Alan Piper said that no matter what happens in this year's race, he does not expect his rider Tadej Pogacar and Tour de France leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) to become enemies.

The two Slovenians currently hold the top two places overall, with Pogacar trailing his older compatriot by 44 seconds. Defending champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) is in third place, 15 seconds behind.

"They will remain friends and will not stand in each other's way. Taddei is proud to have the Slovenian at the top, but he's racing his own race. If one beats the other, the two will not be enemies."

"It won't be easy to make up the time," said Taddei. The only possibility would be if Roglic saw a weakness."

"If that happens, he might be able to take a few seconds away, and it could be a showdown at La Planche des Belles Fils," Piper said.

Pojacar's race was shaped by a setback on stage 7 when he was caught in a crosswind and lost 1:21 to Roglic and most of the other overall contenders. Had the Slovenian not lost time, he might have already taken the yellow jersey.

Piper feels that this setback may have pushed Pogacar to attack the next day. He was 40 seconds ahead of Roglic and Bernal on the road to Rudenwihr, and he earned a stage win and a 10-second time bonus on stage 9 in Larence.

"He has already regained the time he lost last Friday with the wind. I told the riders that something positive could come out of something negative."

"Yesterday I asked him if he was happy with his second place in Paris. Taddei clearly said, 'I want to win.'"