While the main media scrum at the start in St Gaudens was around the FDJ.fr and Thibaut Pinot, the hero of Bagneres-de-Luchon, Vincent Lavenu was talking of the consequences of Romain Bardet's bad day at the AG2R bus.

"We still refuse to designate a leader. The race will dictate. But it's true that Jean-Christophe Peraud is well and that he's better placed for the time trial. But Romain Bardet is not finished yet," he said.

"Everyday, we see a leader crack up. We know that short stages like today's cause serious damage. Who wille be dropped today? Valverde, Pinot, Peraud, Bardet?

"Nobody knows. I don't mention Nibali because he looks very relaxed. But we have our collective strength to help us move if one of our rivals has a bad day. We're hoping not to lose time, take back a little and hope for Thibaut Pinot to be a little less strong than he was yesterday," he added.

Thibaut Pinot is in a position of strength and he means to keep his lead on his rivals and even increase it.

"Yesterday I had my greets day on the Tour. But my rivals remain the same – Peraud, Valverde, Bardet, and évent Van Garderen, you never know. To attack them, the last climb to Pla d'Adet will be enough," he said.