As expected Team Europcar were nowhere near the best in the team time trial at the Tour de France and the team used the stage to recover ahead of their next objectives.

"We will take advantage of the day off on Monday although we will still ride our bikes because the legs are used to turn every day in the Tour," Bryan Coquard told L'Equipe. "For me, the next stages will be well spent at the back and I'll leave it to the climbers of the team to show the jersey. I am the lightest of the sprinters so I am not afraid of the mountain stages, even though you always fear a bad day.

"There are still two weeks of racing, but in terms of opportunities, more than half of the race is done for me. I looked at the finales in Rodez and Valence. These are finishes that suit me well, uphill, and since the beginning of the Tour, I have showed that I can be with the best in this type of terrain."