Vincenzo Nibali may have defended his yellow jersey in today's stage of the Tour de France but the Italian showed his first signs of weakness when he was slightly dropped by Thibaut Pinot over the top of the Port de Bales. However, he refuses to have been in trouble and claims that he was just looking for a bottle.

Until now, Vincenzo Nibali has been in a class of his own in the Tour de France but today there was a chink in his armour. When Thibaut Pinot accelerated on the Port de Bales, the Italian was clearly suffering and a few metres before the top he let the Frenchman go.

However, Nibali refuses that he was unable to maintain Pinot's speed.

"It was a very long stage of 240km," he said. "In the first 70, my team worked enormously to catch the escapees. We've had to close a few gaps. Once we reached the ascent to Port de Balès, Movistar rode hard and I paid attention because Valverde was the most dangerous in my mind. He was likely to go very fast downhill.

"At the top, when Pinot accelerated, I was mostly looking for a bottle with sugar to grab. I don't underestimate Pinot. I don't underestimate anyone. I've learnt that last year at the Vuelta [racing against Chris Horner]. When Pinot attacked, I went to catch him straight away. Valverde let a gap. I didn't let the gap grow.

"At that point, there weren't team-mates of mine any more but they've worked hard since I took the yellow jersey on day 2 in Sheffield. I'm not worried because I also haven't seen many team-mates from other teams. Such a stage takes its toll onto everyone. It'll remain in the legs of many riders.

"Today's stage looked like it would be pretty quiet and the race exploded in the finale. Tomorrow, it's completely different. It's short, only 120km, it'll much more intense. It can be difficult as well. We'll handle the race day by day. We've worked well until now. We'll try to defend the yellow jersey just as well in the next few days.

"Oleg Tinkov came and congratulated me [after pretending a few days ago that Contador would lead the race, hadn't he crashed]. I also congratulated him for his team's stage wins.

"He's a special person. He loves the sport. He's got a true passion for cycling. We need more sponsors like him. Besides being a sponsor, he's present at the races. I understand that he's full of praise for Alberto Contador who needs support now to think of the Vuelta.

"In front of the Fabio Casartelli memorial, I've thought of his family, which is the most important considering the circumstances of the tragedy. My memory of the accident is the one of a child. I remember seeing it on TV but I didn't understand very well. As a young rider, I won an award at his name. I want to dedicate a victory to his family."

“We have to be smart tomorrow," his teammate Tanel Kangert said, looking ahead to tomorrow's short, intense queen stage. "Some guys are racing to keep their GC positions, some are trying to gain seconds before the time trial on Saturday.

“It’s going to be like the last stage of the Dauphine this year – full gas from the start."