Tadej Pogacar's rivals have been trying to come up with a plan to unsettle the two-time defending Tour de France champion but they have yet to find a crack in the Slovenian's bulletproof armor.
After nine days of racing, Pogacar has already won two stages and leads last year's runner-up Jonas Vingegaard by 39 seconds and 2018 champion Geraint Thomas by 1:17.
He has shown no weaknesses on the cobbles and with his UAE teammates has been perfectly controlling the race, which now heads into its most grueling part with two much-feared stages in the Alps on Wednesday and Thursday.