Vincenzo Nibali got safely through the final flat stage of the Tour de France before the race reaches the mountains but in the finale he was warned by Alberto Contador who asked Nicolas Roche to up the pace on the final climb. The race leader saw this as a sign of Contador's intention to attack in the Vosges.

Going into the Tour de France, everybody feared the first week which potentially could cause time losses for the GC riders. At the end of today's stage 7, Vincenzo Nibali can be pleased to know that he handled the tricky opening better than any of his rivals.

Tomorrow the race enters the Vosges which will the scene of the first big battles between the overall contenders. Nibali is convinced that Alberto Contador will attack whenever he sees the sligthest opportunity and saw the Spaniard issue a small warning in today's stage.

"It was another long day in the saddle today," he said. "It became stressful when all the big teams came up to the front of the peloton and the finale has been the most dangerous. I remember that two years ago, even though the time trials were much longer and more important for the overall ranking, it was also nervous every day.

“After Sagan and Van Avermaet went for it, the big question was keeping things under control. It was a very fast descent. That’s why I went on the front because I wanted to avoid risks. There were lots of crashes today.

"The finale was a bit tough and we knew that Sagan would want to win, but in fact it’s another Italian who won. I’m pleased for someone like Trentin. It’s a sign we’ve got a lot of riders coming through.

"I feel sorry for Peter Sagan who is my former team-mate and still a good friend but I'm happy for Matteo Trentin to be a winner. It's an important victory for Italian cycling.

"The coming week-end is going to be very difficult with a lot of climbs on the course. Alberto Contador gave me a signal of what he's keen to do when he asked Nicolas Roche to pull today.

"They didn't take me by surprise. It's normal that they try to make it up for the time lost and that I always have to keep an eye on them. I was up there. I'm well. My condition is good.

“I don’t know the Vosges climbs, I know the top climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees though. Alberto and the others will attack, I know. It will be a very nervous race. There could be a breakaway early on, but we’ll try and keep things under control to the end, then we’ll see what happens. It’s difficult to make predictions.

"To wear the yellow jersey is a motivating factor. It creates a positive stress. It's not that tiring for me but it is for my team-mates. They are great though. We look at working the best way we can."

"240km is a lot, but it went fast," his teammate Lieuwe Westra said. "It's a lot of work to protect Vincenzo, but I think the team is very strong, and we are ready to go into the hills tomorrow."

Tanel Kangert crashed in the final 500m of the six-hour race and injured his right wrist. The team doctor immediately escorted the Estonian champion to a mobile x-ray facility provided by race organizers where specialists diagnosed a contusion with swelling.

Kangert's prognosis is positive, team staff will treat the injury with ice overnight and Kangert will be ready to start on Saturday -