The opening week of the Tour de France produced some intriguing storylines in both the sprints and battle for overall victory.
Chris Froome reaches the first rest day with a 16-second lead at the top of the general classification, while Mark Cavendish already has three victories to his name.
Here, we draw some conclusions from the opening week.
Froome firing but not well ahead
Froome justifiably declared himself to be "really happy" on Monday after ending the first week of the Tour with a stage win and the overall lead, but there is no escaping the fact he is not as well placed as he was at the same point of his overall victories in the 2013 and 2015 editions.
In 2013 he was 2min 2sec ahead of arch-rival Nairo Quintana at the first rest day and in 2015 he was 1min 59sec in front, but this time he is only 23 seconds better off than the Colombian.
He could well stretch his lead on Thursday's summit finish on Mont Ventoux and Friday's time trial, but at the moment, this doesn't look like another case of Froome having victory all but sewn up by the end of the second week.
Quintana playing it cool
Quintana will be delighted to be so close to Froome given his previous rest-day deficits, but any other conclusions about the Colombian are difficult to draw.
Firstly, on the two mountain stages so far he seemed so preoccupied with marking Froome that he didn't muster an attack of his own and at times looked like he forgot he was in a bike race.
Secondly, his facial expression never changes on the bike, so when he was forced to chase attacks from Froome, Dan Martin and Richie Porte on stage nine, it was difficult to tell whether he was comfortable or desperately hanging on. Either is plausible.
The only thing we can say is that Quintana is now better placed than ever to win the Tour, and that should be a worry for Froome.
Dan Martin is a contender
Another rider who is better placed than ever is Dan Martin, who lies just 19 seconds down in third overall after an excellent opening week.
The Irishman had not been considered as a contender for a place on the Tour podium as recently as six weeks ago, but he then finished second overall to Froome at last month's Criterium du Dauphine and followed that up with a remarkably aggressive display on stage nine of the Tour, attacking no fewer than four times on the climb to Andorre Arcalis.
The fact Martin had not just the condition but also the confidence to take the race to Froome and Quintana in such a way suggests he firmly believes he can finish in the top three.
Yates is the hottest property in cycling
Peter Sagan might well be on the market for next season but Adam Yates is arguably an even hotter property.
The 23-year-old Briton's contract with Orica-BikeExchange expires this season, and having worked his way to second overall at the end of the opening week of the Tour, there is a good chance he will spend much of today's rest day receiving offers from potential suitors.
Few people expected Yates to mount a general classification challenge at the Tour, including himself, but given that he has recovered from a heavy crash and also fended off attacks from the likes of Froome and Quintana already, he now has to be regarded as a contender for the final podium.
The big test will be endurance and whether he can maintain this level for three weeks.
Cavendish flying, but danger lurks
Mark Cavendish can almost be regarded as one of the revelations of the Tour so far given that his three wins came against almost all expectation, including his own.
Having spent much of the past nine months training on the track for the Olympic Games and previously won only three sprints this year, Cavendish himself admitted he had no idea what his form would be like.
It appears his track work has increased his leg speed, which has in turn translated into wins, but his time in the velodrome could also have its pitfalls.
Cavendish has never failed to get through the mountains at the Tour but flirted dangerously with the time limit on Saturday's eighth stage as his climbing legs were found wanting. With some savage stages in the Alps still to come, it is not yet guaranteed he will make it to Paris.
Kittel not at his best
As brilliant as Cavendish has been, it should not be overlooked that arch-rival Marcel Kittel has not looked anywhere near his best at the Tour so far.
Earlier this year, the German was routinely winning by such huge margins that he was often the only rider in shot at the finish line on the overhead cameras, yet now he is only just managing to beat sprinters such as Bryan Coquard and Dan McLay, who are good but definitely not in his league.
Kittel has also been comprehensively blown away by Cavendish, despite having never previously lost to the Manxman in 14 head-to-head sprints.
The Tour resumes on Tuesday with a 197km 10th stage from Escaldes Engordany to Revel. Find out more about the route in our race guide and follow the stage live with our live blog from 1pm BST.