With no pavé experience, Romain Bardet went into today's stage of the Tour de France with a lot at stake but the youngster did surprisingly well to finish in the Valverde group. However, the Frenchman had found the conditions extremely challenging and even considered asking a spectator for his mountain bike.

Like many other GC riders, Romain Bardet had never done a race on the cobbles and not being part of one of the strong classics teams, he had a lot at stake in today's stage of the Tour de France. However, the Frenchman managed to limit his losses after having done a surprisingly good race.

For much of the race, he was riding in the Talansky group ahead of the likes of Contador and Valverde but in the end he fell back to the group with the Movistar captain. However, he was pleased with the outcome of a dangerous day.

"It was a crazy stage," he said. "I have never done something like this on a bike, it was really epic. I knew it would be a big fight from the start and Froome has paid the price. There were three inches of mud in the first sector, I even asked if I could get a mountain bike from a recreational cycling to have a bit more stability.

"I leaved the first sector with the first group, but I had to brake slowdown before 2 esector. I returned to fortieth position and from there everyone was trying to stay on two wheels to keep his place. I have rarely seen such a slippery surface. Finally, I did not do too bad as I have no experience on the pavé.  I felt good and limited the damage. I will take each day as it comes.

"Tomorrow there will be more stress, maybe a little less today but with the wind you never know.Even though I'm still up for the general classification I lost a little time to some direct rivals for the Top 10. It is important to stay focused and vigilant in the Tour de France."
 

Fellow captain Jean-Christophe Peraud suffered an untimely puncture and lost 3.46.