Tadej Pogacar, the defending champion, sent a powerful message to would-be Tour de France title hopefuls by storming the individual time-trial on Wednesday, whilst Mathieu van der Poel retained the overall lead post-stage five.

Van van Poel retained his yellow jersey by barely eight seconds, while Geraint Thomas and Richard Carapaz of Ineos lost more than just a minute to Slovenia's ever-improving Pogacar, who now is second overall.

Pogacar called the 27.2km time trial as vital to his prospects of retaining the title he achieved in 2020, and his performance on Wednesday backed up that assertion.

Pogacar ended up winning last year's Tour de France by overturning compatriot Primoz Roglic's significant lead in a time-trial on a penultimate day, and he emerged to do here too as he did on that fateful day on the feted La Planche des Belles Filles steep slope, where he clinched the Tour on his rookie appearance.

“It might not have gone much better today,” said the 22-year-old UAE cyclist. “With several admirers along the road, it was quite emotional, and I consider it to be one of my finest days in the saddle.

“I modified my riding posture; it's less aerodynamic but enables me to push even harder,” Pogacar explained after recording 32 minutes and 51 kilometres per hour over the 27.2km circuit (32mph).

His timing was 44 seconds faster than Roglic's, who crashed severely on Monday, and 1 minute and 18 seconds faster than Thomas, who dislocated his shoulder before picking himself up and finishing the same crash-marred stage.

Pogacar's incredible ride didn't precisely give him the unbeaten record, but it puts him in the driver's seat for the trophy, 1min 44sec ahead of Carapaz, with Roglic and Thomas trailing by 4 and 10sec, respectively.

“There are still a few tough moments, even on a seemingly simple day, you never know what might happen,” Pogacar remarked. “I'm getting ahead now, and assaults will continue to come every day.”

Van der Poel had promised to defend the yellow jersey, but it was only the second time he had completed a time trial at the highest level, and he went beyond expectations to lead his first Tour.

“He's a true champion, he earned his yellow, and he put on a wonderful performance, didn't he?” remarked Pogacar of Van der Poel.

The intense emotions that preceded Van der Poel taking yellow on stage two, avenging his recently departed grandpa and former rider Raymond Poulidor, who had never worn yellow even after winning seven stages, gave way to a more lighthearted side of ‘VDP,' as enthusiasts refer to him.

“The uniform gave me wings, I'm extremely pleased of this achievement, it's one I'll remember,” said the 26-year-old, who was greeted enthusiastically by French supporters crowded tightly along the route.

On a day when a spectator was arrested for causing a major accident of cyclists on stage one, tens of thousands of roadside supporters encroached on the course as the tension rose near the finish line.

“This might be the best day of my career; we didn't believe I'd be able to keep the uniform today but we worked far past midnight last night arranging it all,” Van der Poel, who was dressed in a fitted yellow one-piece suit, said.

Van der Poel will most certainly maintain his top spot for a few more days, with two flat stages remaining. Another happy guy was veteran Mark Cavendish, who retained his green jersey as the best sprinter.

“I held back a little bit today since two flat stages are coming up and I'll need my stamina to sprint,” the Isle of Man rider explained.

The Briton managed to win Tuesday's group sprint finish, bringing his Tour de France score to 31 and closing in on Belgian legend Eddy Merckx's all-time stage record of 34.