With no categorized climbs on the course, Cyril Lemoine enjoyed an easy first day in the mountains jersey at the Tour de France. However, the Frenchman is considering going on the attack in tomorrow's stage as he aims to defend the jersey until stage 8.

Yesterday Cyril Lemoine took the mountains jersey by producing a splendid ride in the Yorkshire Hills and with no categorized climbs, he just had to finish today's stage within the time limit to defend his position. Tomorrow, however, things may get trickier as there are two category 4 climbs in the first stage on French soil and as Lemoine only leads Blel Kadri by a single point, he considers going on the attack to keep his lead.

“I must admit that it was pretty easy to defend my polka dot jersey today," he said. "It really means something to wear a distinctive jersey at the Tour de France: we've seen yesterday how much of a fight it generates in the race.

"Tomorrow I'll break away only if one of my direct rivals for the KOM goes too. I'll be happy to ride near the headquarters of Cofidis with this jersey [tomorrow's stage passes close by] and I hope to keep it until stage 8 but I will be unable to defend it in the mountains."