Jean-Christophe Peraud was one of the big winners in today's stage of the Tour de France as he moved from sixth to fourth in the overall standings. However, the veteran regretted the fact that his teammate Romain Bardet had lost a bit of ground and would have preferred still to have two cards to play in the podium battle.

Jean-Christophe Peraud continues to excel in the Tour de France and today the Frenchman moved closer to the podium. With his great TT skills, he finds himself with a great chance to move even further up in the overall standings.

After his successful performance in stage 16, he was more focused on the sad time loss for his teammate Romain Bardet.

“In the final part, Thibaut (Pinot) was very strong and I have preferred to control my effort," he said. "I knew he wished to ride quietly in the downhill so, rather than trying to fight with him, I have preferred to make less efforts. I waited that Valverde was back and we both come back to the group.

"The team had two cards to play and the objective was not to sacrifice someone today and not to lose both. So, I decided to go with the group and I merely followed hoping that Romain would rejoin us and I’m a bit disappointed for him. One day everything is going well, the next day everything is going wrong and vice versa, we can’t make plans. We still have two cards to play, one of us has lost a bit of time today  but can also gain some time later."