De Gendt said that during stage 8 – which saw Tadej Pogačar blow the Tour's GC race apart after putting 3:20 into his rivals with a 32-kilometre solo attack – he had put out the kind of watts he'd normally see in a breakaway move. However, rather than battling with the protagonists of the break, including stage winner Dylan Teuns, he was way off the back of the race, finishing 28 minutes down on his compatriot. A 'changing of the guard' comes to every generation of sportsperson, but the 34-year-old said that he didn't expect one to come about so suddenly, and not while he is still putting out career-high power numbers, either.

"I have to draw my conclusions, finish my contract, and then it's time for something else," he said. "If they are better, then so be it. I'm 34 now and will be 36 at the end of my contract. I won't suddenly improve another five per cent unless I engage in 'wrong things', but I won't do that.