While Romain Bardet suffered a surprisingly big time loss on the Mur de Huy, his Ag2r teammate Alexis Vuillermoz rode to a breakthrough third place.

"In the Tour de France, people only remember victories," Vuillermoz told L'Equipe. "Given the race, a third place today is really satisfying. Four years ago, I was not even in the nine-man squad.  

"Yesterday I used a lot of energy and I doubted a lot. I had mechanical problems. I was afraid that the race was not tough enough with the neutralization. 

"In the finale, I knew I had to be well-positioned. At the Flèche Wallonne, I made ​​the mistake of not being close enough to the front at the bottom of the Mur and I lost a lot of time on the climb. This time, I preferred to take the lead. In the end, I especially focused on Valverde and Rodriguez. It was the latter who attacked violently far from the line. I could not follow him. 

"Just when I wanted to stop to take a natural break, I saw the violent crash which involved Johann (Vansummeren) and I could avoid it. Now I see that I am good on the climbs and I hope to keep my role alongside Romain (Bardet) and Jean-Christophe (Péraud)."

"Sometimes the simple act of staying upright is enough to have a good day," Bardet wrote on Facebook. "After yesterday, I do not know by I made a miracle and avoided the crash. I am stunned by the nervousness and the violent crashes. I hope that all the riders are okay. And tomorrow we will have the cobbles."

Johan Vansummeren crashed heavily 60 kilometers from the finish of the third stage. He finished the stage with incredible courage.

"Johan was very lucky," Ag2r doctor Eric Bouvat said. "He crashed at 80 km / hour. He has superficial wounds on the back, hip and right knee. It hurt but it is nothing serious and he will be at the start in the stage Seraing - Cambrai."

"The fall took place on the big descent close to Andenne," Vansummeren said. "For two months I had been afraid of this descent. I knew a lot of crashes happened here in the Fleche Wallone

"I was very well placed. We rode at 80kph at the time. The rider in front of me crashed, I could not do anything. It was carnage. We only see crashes like that in the Tour. All teams want to be at the front and it creates situations like that. It was too bad that I was involved.

"The end of the stage was difficult but I had to finish. I was dropped but I was still in the caravan. On the last climb, I could see the dropped riders and I joined them. Tomorrow I will be feeling the effect and more than my muscles will make me suffer. I do not know what to expect. I spent ten minutes on the floor, it really hurts."