After his many disappointments, Vincenzo Nibali showed signs of improvement when he finished with the GC riders in today's tough mountain stage at the Tour de France.

"It was a very hard pace," he told Cyclingpro.net. "The feelings are a little better than the other days, but I used my head more than my legs . 

"There was a time when I thought that with my big time deficit I would not be marked but they still brought me back. When I was caugh, the attacking started from Valverde an Quintana who wanted to see how their rivals were responding."