The rider

Nils Politt is the human windbreak in UAE's Tour machine, a towering rouleur whose job description is simple to say and brutal to perform: keep Pogačar where he needs to be, at the speed he needs to travel, for as long as the team requires. A tenth consecutive Tour de France speaks to more than durability. It speaks to a very specific expertise in the daily grind of July, where the first three hours of a stage can be as important for a GC leader as the final climb.

Politt's German time-trial title underlines the size of his engine, but his road value is broader than a stopwatch. He is the rider who can sit on the front through exposed valleys, discourage opportunists from taking liberties, and keep the bunch lined out when sprint teams and GC teams are all fighting for the same strip of road. In the Barcelona TTT, he is one of UAE's heavy anchors. On road stages, he becomes Pogačar's early warning system and physical shield.

What makes him beloved inside a team is the willingness to make his own race invisible. Politt has enough pedigree to chase stages, yet his best Tour days for UAE may end with him swinging off long before the broadcast has reached its emotional peak. That sacrifice is the point. Pogačar's attacks look spectacular because riders like Politt have already absorbed hours of disorder. The Tour remembers winners; teams remember who carried them to the moment winning became possible.