Romain Bardet (Ag2r) had a tough day in the Tour de France as he was dropped early on the Col d'Allos. He limited his losses and is now 12th overall.

"I had a  hypoglycemic crisis after 45 kilometers," he said. "Therefore I completed this stage with a lot of courage. I would like to pay tribute to my teammates who assisted me all day long. I was not in the game today because my legs were not as well as two days ago. It was a difficult day. I have always had problems after a rest day."

His teammate Jean-Christophe Peraud who crashed a few days ago is improving.

"I feel better after the rest day, not to be at the front but to follow the peloton and make it to the finish line," he said. "I suffer less so the morale is better, but I'm still disappointed by my level of form because I'm not an actor on this Tour. I tried this morning to be in the break. We went with a group of 30 but the big riders made it back from the back.. At the foot of Allos, Romain told me he didn't feel too well. Apparently he bonked. It's a problem."

Meanwhile, teammates Jan Bakelants and Mikael Cherel were in the early break but came up short.

"I was expecting a better result but I could not ride any faster," Bakelants said. "Once again I suffered from the heat and I did not have enough strenghth in the legs. There are still few days of competiton but it is never easy to get away from the peloton. I am pleased to be in the GC top 20. However, I already did it in 2013 and no one seems to remenber."

"When Van Garderen was dropped, the peloton was riding really fast," Cherel said. "Therefore, I made great efforts to got away with a group of 25 riders. It penalized me because in the Col d'Allos climb I was exhausted. I think the winner's mindset made the difference. I am a bit disappointed because we planned to win the stage with Jan. Fortunately, many supporters did cheer us on today."