While his leader, Pierre Rolland, lost more than six minutes on Vincenzo Nibali halfway through this Tour de France, Jean-Rene Bernaudeau is convinced that nothing is lost for Team Europcar.

"We haven't had the big heat and the big climbs yet. A new Tour begins. My riders are healthy. We now must be keen and bold. Pierre's deficit is reasonable at the end of that tricky first part of the race," the French team manager said.

Apart from Pierre Rolland, Europcar has other ambitious riders for the two weeks ahead, starting with Thomas Voeckler.

"At La Planche des Belles Filles, circumstances did not work in his favour because of the return of Kwiatkowski and the KOM ambitions of Rodriguez.  But I'm convinced he's still capable of a great feat on any given day," Bernaudeau said.

And in the transition stages ahead, the team led by by Andy Flickinger and Dominique Arnould can also count on Bryan Coquard, still in contention for the green jersey:

"Bryan is not worn out at all. He has fun on the bike and is really happy to be here."