Tadej Pogacar dispelled any doubts, if there were any. Last Wednesday's head-to-head triumph between the Slovenian and his main rival, reigning Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, led some to believe that the Dane could challenge him on the long climbs. 

And he tried. Vingegaard is a champion and made a brave attack 10 kilometres from the summit on the Plateau de Beille, but could only drop everyone except Pogacar. The Slovenian bided his time. 5 kilometres from the finish he surged ahead and sealed the Dane's fate. 

With his second consecutive victory in the Pyrénées, he extended his overall lead in the Tour de France to over three minutes on Sunday. A valiant Jonas Vingegaard was only 1:08 behind in second, with Remco Evenepoel 2:51 behind in third. 

When Pogacar crossed the finish line on the magnificent Plateau de Beille, deep in the Pyrenees, it was his second consecutive iconic mountaintop victory, first on the Pla de Adet on Saturday and then on the Plateau de Beille on Sunday. It was also his 14th Tour de France stage win at the age of just 25.

The UAE team leader's audacious bid for a double in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in the same season is looking closer after a third stage win. He has six wins to his name in the Giro. He looks set to repeat the feat in the Tour.

There are still two gruelling mountain stages to go in the Alps. The weather is likely to be much hotter, something Pogacar does not like. The race returns to the Alps, where it passed through in the early days and where Pogacar began his reign with a victory on the Galibier, one of the giants of the Tour. 

He won the stage after descending the mountain and putting pressure on Vingegaard, who has responded well after recovering from a serious crash in April, but is far from challenging Pogacar. Barring an intervention, Pogacar will complete a Giro-Tour double not seen since Marco Pantani in 1998.

The second week of the Tour has confirmed Pogacar's dominance, even without the full strength of his UAE Emirates team. They started strong but have lost some momentum. Evenepoel is aiming for his third podium finish in his debut year at the French race. 

This second week has also made it clear that the fastest man in the peloton is Biniam Girmay, who is also in the running for the green points jersey with three wins.

However, after the two Alpine stages, there is one last day of the Tour, with a 34km time trial on the Corniche between Monaco and Nice, which could change everything if the riders are exhausted.

For now, things are going well for the Slovenian, who leads two-time defending champion Vingegaard by 3 minutes 9 seconds, with young Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third on 5 minutes 19 seconds in his first Tour de France.

Vingegaard and Evenepoel were involved in a nasty crash in March. It remains to be seen how their stamina will hold up in the third week. After Monday's rest day, the race returns to the Alps, where the Tour is traditionally won.

What is clear is that the gaps are significant. They are reminiscent of cycling in decades past, when everything was less controlled. João Almeida (UAE), currently in fourth place, is battling it out with the young Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos) for a top 5 spot that's out of reach for everyone.

The heat in the Alps is one of Vingegaard's few remaining allies in his search for a bad day from Pogacar. After his performances in the Giro and Tour, Pogacar may have one, even though he looks invincible.