Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) rode his way back into the top 10 of the Tour de France general classification with an outstanding ITT on Wednesday, finishing 7th with a time of 53'06" in the 32km mountain time trial that included two category 2 climbs.

In the top 8 of all intermediate checkpoints Kwiatkowski was 1'33" slower than stage winner and yellow jersey wearer Chris Froome (Sky) at the end of the day.

His performance elevated Kwiatkowski from 11th in the GC to 9th after the finish of the stage. 

"Today was pretty hard for everyone I guess," Kwiatkowski said. "I did my best, risked my life on the descent twice, but I eventually finished 7th on the stage. So, I'm happy about it. I think that was one of the hardest time trials of my life. Tomorrow we have L’Alpe d'Huez twice. I did it already in the Critérium du Dauphiné so I know it's going to be a really hard stage. Probably with attacks from the start. We will have sore legs after today's time trial, then another three days until Paris. I will try to do my best and get much help from my teammates. We will see."