Having soared to a last-minute victory in 2020 and dominated the race last year, few had rated Tadej Pogačar as anything other than the absolute top favourite for this year's Tour de France.
The Col du Granon, Jumbo-Visma and Jonas Vingegaard happened, though, consigning the 23-year-old to what before the Tour had been scarcely thinkable – a distant second place as the race heads to Paris on Sunday.
After his momentous defeat on stage 11, Pogačar grabbed any and every opportunity he could to recoup lost terrain. But despite his point-blank refusal to surrender, his Tour GC track record now will read 1-1-2.
Speaking following the stage 20 time trial, Pogačar acknowledged that he and his UAE Team Emirates squad had made a lot of mistakes during the race and also referred to the bad luck they had suffered along the way.
"For sure we can take a lot of things from this Tour – a lot of mistakes that we made, and a lot of good things," he said in what would be the first and only in-person press conference of the race.
"I think we have a good opportunity for next year because I know that we can improve and I'm looking forward to new challenges. We can try to get better at a lot of things. I think we can do it."
The one mistake that stands out is an obvious one, with Jumbo-Visma's repeated attacks on the Galibier and a possible lack of feeding contributing to Pogačar's shocking downfall on the Col du Granon.
Pogačar admitted that he had been "too motivated" to follow the moves made by Vingegaard and Primož Roglič on the Galibier, and that he paid for his efforts later in the day.
"The mistake I have made was the stage to the Col du Granon," he said. "I was too motivated to follow everyone, and I think in the end I paid really hard. That's one mistake I made but for sure there's a bit more.
"We had a lot of bad luck with COVID-19 before and in the middle of the Tour," he added. "We ended the race with four riders – only half the team. A lot of factors we can talk about all day, but it's something we have to analyse after the Tour."
He did note, however, that he wouldn't be altering his aggressive style of riding – he subsequently attacked on stages 12, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 19 – as a result of what happened on stage 11.
"It was only one stage. All the other stages before and after that, for me, were really good and I enjoyed racing them so much. I don't think I will change my style of riding."
Pogačar, who is now set to finish the Tour on Sunday 3:34 down on Vingegaard, having shed another eight seconds in the Rocamadour time trial, said that the strength of the Dane and his Dutch team will only be a motivating factor for future Tours.
"A lot of people want a different winner every year," he said. "I think it's not so bad to change places through the years. I just found a stronger opponent and it gives me motivation to be better next year.
"This Tour there were almost no weaknesses in their team. They lost two riders, but in the end it didn't seem like they had any less, maybe because we had four. They rode really perfectly in this Tour and because they rode perfectly, they got to win.
"We hope we can get better luck next year, get better at small things, and that we can match this year's Tour. I like challenges in life, and I see a big challenge this year in Jonas which I couldn't beat. I'm really motivated in the next races and the next Tour de France to get over this obstacle and beat this challenge."
