IAM Cycling had 150 kilometers to hope for and believe in the chance that one of its riders would take the victory for the stage. Jarlinson Pantano succeeded two times in finding the right wagon to follow in order to stay at the front of the race until the break tackled the final climb up to Mende with less to three kilometers to race. 

Unfortunately for the team, Pantano, a Columbian racing for the Swiss professional team, was unable to scale the hill with the front riders, when Romain Bardet (AG2R – LA Mondiale) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) pulled away from their breakaway companions late in the stage. But the two Frenchmen would dither a bit too much, allowing Stephen Cummings (MTN Qhubeka) the chance to surge past them and take the stage victory at the end of the runway on the airfield in Mende.

Christopher Froome (Sky), though attacked repeatedly by Nairo Quintana, did not panic and eventually even took an extra second out of Quintana in their frenzied two-man sprint to the line. Jarlinson Pantano had crossed the line shortly before the charging leaders of the race, and earned himself a 12th place on the stage. Meanwhile, Mathias Frank was separated from the leaders and lost five minutes in relation to the stage winner. This set him back to 13th place by a few handful of seconds.

Jarlinson Pantano was not too disappointed in his day, and was keen to discuss it in spite of the exhausting heat. 

“I tried my luck, but it did not work out in the end on that last wall of a climb. But that is also part of cycling. I have not lost hope. I am ready to try my luck again. There are still some great opportunities, and my sensations are good. We have a strong team and Mathias Frank is likely to finish in the top-10. As a result, we are very motivated to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”

A smiling Mathias Frank happily echoed these sentiments while taking his routine ice bath after the stage. Analyzing the hilly day, Frank points out the demanding cost each rider must pay. 

“It was still very hot today, and the nervousness was palpable in the bunch. We had to chase hard since the breakaway had more than 20 guys in it, and many of them very dangerous on the general classification. Then Sky took the reins and dictated the pace, so that everything was played for in the final. I didn’t have the necessary legs, but my sensations are getting better and better as the days go by. I am hopeful that I can still get into the right breakaway at the right time.”

As for Rik Verbrugghe, the manager sportif for IAM Cycling, he explained the team’s strategy. 

“We rode at the front of the pack in order to close the gap on the group of 22 riders initially because our strategy had been actually to place Mathias Frank in the break. Then we ceded our place. It’s just a shame that Mathias was not able to find the right time to go with this group, especially when looking at the 13 riders who were left.”