Rigoberto Urán has returned to his best form and could finish in the top five in this year's Tour de France.

They led the team standings for several days, with Nielson Powles taking part in two decisive breaks and two top-five stage finishes.

With most of the mountains still to come, Senior Director Sportif Shirley Wegelius was in an upbeat mood ahead of Thursday's crucial stage in Masif Santoral.

"It's been a great race so far," Wegelius said. [Obviously the time gaps are very close; some of the GC contenders have dropped out, but those in the top 10 are fully in the race."

With seven racers within 44 seconds of Primoz Roglic's yellow jersey, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Tadey Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) are seen as strong rivals for Jumbo Visma. Wegelius, however, believes that the delicate balance at GC has yet to shed light on what the next two weeks will bring.

"I think Jumbo-Visma deserves the lead now. But the big decision on who will win is still to be made later in the race.

"There is still a lot to look forward to. With such a short time gap, even those who currently have the advantage can't just sit on their hands and wait. It is important for all to race, seize every opportunity, and close the distance between themselves and their rivals."

Uran, who finished second to Chris Froome in the 2017 Tour de France, appears to be back to his best, and the 33-year-old was within reach of the top GC riders in the Pyrenees. He also made it through the first week of racing relatively unscathed, with no major crashes due to accidents.

Uran was on the right side on stage 7 on the section to Lavol, where crosswinds combined with the efforts of Beulah Hansgrohe to split the peloton into several echelons.

"Obviously Rigo is in a great position. He has the experience to do these things as well as the conditions," Wegelius said.

Uran's teammates, Sergio Iguita and Daniel Martinez, both entered the Tour as GC contenders, but fell back as the race unfolded.

Martinez crashed heavily in the second stage, and despite a valiant push in the closing stages, he was eliminated before the finish. Higuain made his Tour debut and is learning as the race progresses, but his climbing legs keep him inside the top 20 on GC.

"Dani of course had less luck than Rigoberto, but this may be a blessing in disguise as there may be room to move from a long-distance attack later in the race," Wegelius said.

"Sergio is in a similar position to Dani. He is in his first Tour and is learning and growing from Rigo.