Marcel Kittel has survived the two hard stages in the Alps and is looking forward to tomorrow's flat stage to Nims. However, he regrets the loss of teammate Dries Devenyns who crashed out of the race today.

Albert Timmer made the early jump on the 14th stage of the Tour de France and was part of a 17-man escape group which put its mark on the second Alpine stage. The team suffered a loss as Dries Devenyns crashed.

Timme helped to determine the race for about 100 kilometers, getting into the early-forming escape group. He stayed up front until the ascent of the Izoard, when he finally had to fall back.

Tom Domoulin called it “a hard day. I tried to hang on to the peloton and I could stay on with them until the start of the final climb. Then I let them go and rode easily to the top. It makes no sense to use myself up for a top 30 placing. It was a good feeling to be up there on the Izoard.”

He was the team’s top finisher, coming in 10:18 down in 42d place.

“Tomorrow is another day to work for the sprinters. I am tired and looking forward to Monday’s rest day. It has been really hard for me, always racing attentively. But I still have some goals for this race.”

The high mountains aren’t Marcel Kittel’s preferred terrain, but he was still pleased with the stage.

“It was a pretty good day for me on the bike. Astana was controlling the race at a decent tempo and I could stay in the grupetto over the first mountain and found than a good group to ride to the finish, which was good for me.

“Tomorrow is flat and it should be a good day for a sprint and I see some opportunities there. It is a pity that we have lost Dries and I am very sad that we have to do without him. He is an important part of our formation.”