Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) impressed in today's brutally hard stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné as the sprinter managed to stay with the GC contenders for most of the stage.

"It was a very hard day," he said. In the end I struggled because I didn't eat anything in the final 70km. I held onto the group of the yellow jersey for a long time, but I cracked 20 kilometers from the finish. I was hypoglycemic, I had no more energy.

"It does not surprise me to have been able to be with them for so long, because I climb well when I am in good condition. After all I did well at the World Championships where there was 4000m of climbing. "