Tour de France route designer Thierry Gouvenou has acknowledged that stage 6 was a failure, finishing atop the 18.7-kilometre climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre, though he attributed the lack of drama to the gulf between Tadej Pogacar and his rivals rather than the course itself.
Pogacar holds a lead of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard after a week of racing, having already claimed two stage victories. The Slovenian said he could not single out one most dangerous rival, with Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso, and Mattias Skjelmose among those in the chasing group behind Vingegaard. Pogacar described the Barcelona start as excellent, calling it one of the Tours he has enjoyed most, aside from the heat.
On stage 9, UAE led the peloton to honour Filippo Ganna's wish despite having no plan to chase the breakaway, which delivered Mathieu van der Poel the stage win.