The days go by for the FDJ team in the Volta a Catalunya. Un the absence of Thibaut Pinot, Kenny Elissonde has been selected as team leader but he has lost a bit of time every day. The second leader Alexandre Geniez is suffering just weeks ahead of the Giro and is finishing in the gruppetto.

In the last two stages, Tinkoff-Saxo have the pace on the last climb and Kenny Elissonde, has been unable to match the speed, trying to limit the damage. On both days, he lost two minutes.

"There's not much to tell," says FDJ sports director Thierry Bricaud. "Kevin [Reza] knows when it's too hard for him but he will have a good shot in the final stages. Young Olivier Le Gac and Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier are getting experience. However, Alexandre has been in the group with the sprinters and that is not his place. He knows that."

A suffering Anthony Roux was forced to abandon on the third stage.