On the eve of the finish at the top of the Mur de Bretagne, the Tour de France tackled a stage favorable for sprinters between Normandy and Brittany, between Livarot and Fougeres. 

It was a day in the sun and with a temperature of 30 degrees which gave ideas for a group of 5 riders, including our Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) who already attacked at km 0 yesterday. These five riders immediately got an advantage of nearly 3 minutes and was chased by the teams of the sprinters.

At the top of the only climb, Daniel Teklehaimanot scored the only point. Un the intermediate sprint, Mate was first across the line.

All day, the scenario was the samem with a gap fluctuaing between 1.00 and 1.30. In the last 25 kilometers, Mate tried to attack several times to restart the escape and eventually ended up with Brice Feillu 15km from the finish. The duo was caught 11km from the finish. Approaching the sprint, Florian Senechal and Christophe Laporte positioned Geoffrey Soupe for the sprint. He finished 15th, just ahead of Laporte in 18th.

"Since we lost our leader Nacer [Bouhanni], we try to fight every day. When you attack you believe in it even if you know it will not be easy to stay away. This is the Tour de France and I hope we will still have the opportunity to show ourselves," Mate said.

"Luis took advantage of an opportunity to spend a quiet day in front. For 2 days the tired riders have needed a break. To ride in front is good for the morale and make it easier to avoid the crashes," manager Yvon Sanquer said.