The question at the Village Depart this morning was to know whether Vincenzo Nibali, who lost three seconds to Alberto Contador in the last stretch of stage 8 in La Mauselaine, had shown his first sign of weakness in this Tour de France.

The Italian's answer was no. He insisted he had just made a gear mistake. The Spaniard said he was surprised not to have dropped the yellow jersey earlier. But Nibali tried to stick to the wheel of Contador, but the high tempo dropped him with a few seconds on the finish line.

What do others think? 

For former world champion Laurent Brochard, the three seconds lost by Nibali are meaningful. It is a matter Contador seeing small signs of weakness with the wearer of the yellow jersey.

"It's a sign of hope for Alberto, but also for the others. Maybe if Alberto attacked earlier, he would have taken more time off him." he said to Letour.fr

Former French rider Jean-Francois Bernard, who finished third in the 1987 Tour, is not in doubt about his opinion. Nibali made a mistake yesterday and it was to keep the yellow jersey on his shoulders.

"Nibali is not relaxed. For me, he made a mistake to keep the jersey. He is wearing his team out."