This year a French rider will again be in the Top 10 in the general classification of the Giro d'Italia. After Pierre Roland (Team Europcar) in 2014, Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) will finish the race in 9th after last year's 13th place.

He secured that position by taking 15th in the final mountain stage.

''It was not easy with the climb of Finestre, which was very long," he told BeIN Sport. "It is rare to have an 18km climb. I held on and I wanted to keep Maxime Monfort (11th, 1'51'' behind Geniez before the stage, ed.) behind me. I stayed with his group. Even though I lost some time in the descent, I quickly got back."

"A grand tour is long, every day we have the pressure not to lose time so it's good to get to the finish. This is a moment we have been waiting for. We started to count the days."

Sports director Frederic Guesdon agreed: "We aimed for a top 10 arriving in the Giro and we are 9th with Alexandre. It's true we were a little defensive today but sometimes football teams that are on the defense all the time score a goal in the last minute. This is what happened to us so we are happy."