Team Tinkoff appeared to have worked out everything prior to the stage to Le Lioran – keeping Alberto Contador on his bike and in contention for as long as possible and surround him with domestiques if and when Movistar elected to hammer the peloton, hoping that the Spaniard could survive without losing more time.

The former half of the strategy played out well enough as the Russian team sent Rafal Majka up the road in the break, trusting that the Pole could claim the stage win. They expected Sagan to struggle when the racing truly kicked off on the climbs. At least the team got that part right.

However, the Tinkoff team could not envisage what occurred next with Robert Kiserlovski breaking down so early and then Roman Kreuziger failing to wait for Contador as he lost additional ground after Romain Bardet’s increase in speed on the final climb. While the time gaps between Contador and his main rivals were not disastrous, the sight of the Spaniard struggling alone in his attempts to control the damages exposed the cracks that existed within the team for some time.

With the team set to disperse at the end of the year, it is hardly surprising that Kreuziger and his team mates are all riding with a keen eye to securing their future. The Czech rider was swift to dispel any notion that he was riding for himself in order to improve his chances of gaining a contract with a new team.

“There’s not really a story,” Kreuziger told Cyclingnews. “We had some bad communication. I said at the Dauphine that we have to work on that, and that’s everything. We need to speak more in the races so that things are clearer. That’s all I can say. I spoke to Alberto and he’s a big champion. There’s no problem between us.”

Judging from the television relays, though, the teams tactics crumbled disastrously. However, De Jongh was adament that things unfolded differently.

“I think what you saw on television wasn’t what our tactics were,” Steven de Jongh told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 6.

“We gave orders four times from the team car early on for Roman and things didn’t go to plan. Rafal didn’t have to wait for us because the situation was under control. I spoke with Roman after the race and he said he thought that Alberto was on his wheel with 1.5km to go. I said, ‘Roman when I say something in the race, it’s with a cause.’ That’s my statement and I want to keep it short. If you want to ask more then you need to ask Roman.”

“The situation isn’t helpful and could lead to a situation where people think of themselves more than they would otherwise,” Yates said when asked about the contract situation and riders looking out for themselves. “That’s natural but it’s been dealt with. The obvious thing that stuck out is that we had two guys in the front group, Alberto and Roman, and Roman didn’t wait. I wouldn’t say that it was a miscommunication. To me it’s obvious what should have happened but that’s been talked about. From an outside perspective it might seem like a disaster but we won a stage, and have had yellow.”

Tinkoff may not quite have reached catastrophe status as yet but one more day of struggling for the injured Contador, and all hell might break lose, forcing De Jongh and Yates to fight desperately to keep the rest of the riders in check. Meanwhile, the other teams will be looking to pounce if Tinkoff shows signs of dissolving.