Cofidis again tried to save their disastrous Tour de France when Nicolas Edet joined the big break in stage 17. However, he was the first rider to get dropped from the 28-rider group.

"After the rest day, I have not had too much trouble to get the machine going," he said. "I knew this stage well after having done the Dauphiné and so I tried my luck several times early in the stage. I ended up in the yellow jersey group of 50 riders with Dani [Navarro] and then a group came out and I managed to be in front. On the climb of the Col d'Allos, I was no longer able to follow the best but I did not let go until I got to the finish. Now there are 3 difficult stages and I feel better and better so there will be opportunities."