Jean-Christophe Peraud showed a fighting attitude in today's stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné when he put his disappointing performances behind him and went on the attack. In the finale, however, he failed to join Lieuwe Westra and Jan Bakelants and admitted that they had been stronger than him in the crucial moment.

Going into the Criterium du Dauphiné, Jean-Christophe Peraud had hoped to be in contention for the top 10 positions on GC but after a disappointing start to the race, he has been forced to change his focus. Today he showed that he is still ready to fight when he made the breakaway in stage 6.

On paper, Peraud was one of the best climbers in the 16-rider group that got clear but he failed to respond when Lieuwe Westra, Jan Bakelants and Pim Ligthart escaped on the final climb. The veteran Frenchman was honest and admitted that the trio had been stronger than him in the finale and that the stage win was beyond his reach.

“Almost all the teams were represented in the breakaway so we were not too worried about the peloton," he said. "We got along very well but when Westra and Bakelants have attacked my shape was not so good and I was not able to follow them.

"I’m a little bit disappointed but, anyway I think I would certainly not been able to win today. I was not in a good position in the group, I was not close enough to Westra and Bakelants and then it was difficult for me to regain good feelings. I was a little sluggish because of the regular pace of the breakaway.

"The mechanical problem I had in the final kilometers didn’t change anything. I just had to use some energy to get back to the breakaway but we already knew that we were competing for the 3rd place, so there is no regret to have.”