After his great stage win yesterday, Romain Bardet was set back by bad luck when he hit the deck in the finale of today's stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné. Even though he did well to limit his losses his slipped to 9th in the overall standings, 1.30 behind new leader Vincenzo Nibali.

"My wheels slid out at a crucial moment," he said. "I got a big scare. I limited my losses but the bike was not working well. I was able to reach the finish on the bike and that's the main thing. I am not too bad. This does not mean much. 

"It was a war with the big boys all day. They (Nibali, Valverde, Martin, Gallopin and Costa ) attacked in a descent. I could not go with them. It was too bad, because I planned to reward my team for their great job. But the race is not over. I just hope I can start in good condition."

"It was a difficult mathematical balance," Ag2r sports director Julien Juried said. "It was a crazy stage, as we like to see it. Congratulations to all the riders in the peloton. Romain was comfortable in the first kilometers. A royal breakaway was formed and we knew we had to control. The whole team worked well. We did not get the reward for our efforts with Romain 's crash 4km from the finish. There is a beautiful day tomorrow. The Criterium du Dauphine is not over."

"It was a busy day in difficult conditions," Mikael Cherel said. "Everyone wanted to go in the break. Rui Costa, Valverde, Nibali, Gallopin made ​​the race difficult. We defended Romain's spot in the FC. I'm disappointed for Romain. He showed us yesterday that he is in great condition and the best is yet to come."

"t was a hard day with a dynamic start," Jean-Christophe Peraud said. "There was no chance to recover. I tried to go in the break without succes and then I took it easy. I'll recover for another big day in the Alps."