Thibaut Pinot fould himself in a dangerous situation in today's first stage of the Tour de France when a broken derailleur set him back at a very bad moment. The Frenchman had to chase hard to rejoin the peloton but managed to avoid any time loss.

Thibaut Pinot has never been a rider for the fight for position and so many were not too surprised to find him in the second group when the peloton split due to crashes and crosswinds on the second climb of today' stage. However, the Frenchman has not been badly positioned, he had simply been hit by bad luck.

"He broke his derailleur and had to stop to get Matthieu Ladagnous' bike," explains manager Marc Madiot. "Then he had to find his way back but on the road, you can not put two cars in front of him. We also had to help Matthieu and suddenly they found themselves behind the split."

Pinot accelerated on his own on the final climb and made it back to the peloton where sprinter Arnaud Demare prepared for the sprint. However, the French champion was hit by bad luck in the finale as he was held up behind the crash.

"I don't think Arnaud would have won but he would have taken a place of honour," Madiot said. "But after such a day we are happy that we got through without any damage. 60km from the finish, things didn't look good."