Tour de France runner-up Jean Christophe Peraud is disappointed on the behalf of his team-mate Romain Bardet after the overall win in Tour de l’Ain slipped. Bert-Jan Lindeman was able to hold on to his lead on the final stage.

I was declared as a clear goal for the young Frenchman of AG2R La Mondiale to go for the overall win due to the small gap between him and the surprise winner Bert-Jan Lindeman. But the Dutchman tuned out to be a bit too strong for Bardet, who finishes 11 seconds after.

It was a very disappointed Jean Christophe Peraud, who finished the stage as 37th and the overall race as 5th.

"I am especially disappointed for Roman because he fought like hell for the win. Unfortunately, he does not do that because of a few seconds. This is how sport works. I think regrets must be elsewhere. I hope it will teach us things for the future. We must remain constructive. Obviously it's a disappointment. I think we rode well. For sure if we had a FDJ before, we would have been easier since they were both active in the final. We might have had to try to filter for a FDJ and Cofidis before. Now I'm going to the Classic de l'Indre Chateauroux and the Tour du Poitou-Charentes," he told DirectVelo.