When he crashed out of the French championships, Nacer Bouhanni feared that he would have to skip the Tour de France. After scans revealed that his rib was not broken, he has now been confirmed to be at the start.

“It’s getting better and better,” Bouhanni told Cyclingnews on Thursday. “I gave myself a big fright because I thought I was going to have to miss the Tour because of that crash. But once I did all the x-rays, I was more positive and I just hope it keeps getting better day-by-day.

I feel that my condition is improving.

“It’s my side that hurts, the road rash is fine. When I breathe, I still feel a little discomfort, but it’s a lot less than earlier in the week.

“The night of the French Championships, my morale was at zero but it picked up again once I got the result of the scans and realised that, all going normally, I’d be able to go to the Tour.

“I’ve been told that I was going to have pain in my ribs for between seven and ten days after the crash, and the cobbled stage comes exactly ten days after my crash, so that’s ok. In any case, I think the Tour is worth the pain.”