AG2R team manager Vincent Lavenu paid homage to Jean-Christophe Peraud, who crashed heavily during stage 13 of the Tour de France.

“He crashed at full speed and as a result has deep bruises and cuts to the elbow and shoulder. He suffers mostly from his little finger and this is what worries us the most. He's a really brave guy. He managed to return to the peloton and to hold almost until the line. Our only fear is to know whether the little finger is broken or not. The doctor will tell us later. Jean-Christophe is a tough guy. He proved it last year to go for second overall, he proves it again even if the conditions are different. He deserves plaudits, he's an example.”

"Just before I crashed, I was looking behind which is a little bit stupid," Peraud said immediately after the stage. "I was wondering where Alexis [Vuillermoz] was in order to give bottles to him and my other teammates. I just wanted to be useful for the team because I do not feel in great shape currently. It is only getting worse for me with this crash. Right now, all my body is hurting but I will be ready for tomorrow's stage." 

Eric Bouvat, AG2R LA MONDIALE medical director, said: "Because of his crash at km 134, Jean-Christophe Péraud has many wounds on the upper limbs, his legs and his left hip. He is also suffering from trauma to his fifth left-hand finger which has no skin on it. Hopefully, the x-ray will reveal that there is no fracture. Therefore, our most important problem is to clean his wounds properly because the tarmac was really dirty."

Later it was confirmed that the finger is not broken.

"There’s no fracture, so that’s a good start," Peraud said. "I’ll live the Tour day by day like I’ve already been doing. It’s not been a good Tour. But that’s sport; suffering is part of it too.

"I’ll start and then I’ll make a call on it when I’m on the bike, depending on how I feel."