After finishing last due to suffering a nasty crash in stage four of the Tour de France, Alex Dowsett started and finished stage five, with his Movistar DS Jose Luis Arrieta saying he is crucial to Nairo Quintana gaining time in Sunday’s team time trial.

“We haven’t just brought Alex here for that TTT but for all the work that he’s already done until now,” Arietta said. “There are still four important stages before the TTT.”

After his crash, Dowsett received stitches on his elbow but he was pleased to receive the news that nothing was broken.