Jean-Christophe Peraud made himself the overwhelming favourite to finish the Tour de France in second place when he gained time on Alejandro Valverde in today's stage. Admitting that the podium is now his big objective, he reveals that he was on the limit on the final climb and had to dug deep to keep up with Thibaut Pinot.

Jean-Christophe Péraud resisted bravely to an attack by fellow-Frenchman Thibaut Pinot on Hautacam to move to third overall, 13 seconds behind Pinot while Alejandro Valverde now lies two seconds behind him.

"I'm glad I took back some time on Valverde," he said. "It was one the goals of the day. Today, I didn't have real sensations. I limited the damage with courage. I'm satisfied with my day. In general, when you made an effort the day before, it gets harder, we saw it with Thibaut after Bagneres-de-Luchon.

"It was not at all the objective at the start of the Tour but of course, with the current situation you start to think about the podium. We're going to try everything to make it on the podium.

"Thibaut again took a little bit of time off me. Nothing is done, everything remains to be done in the TT. With the tiredness in the third week, nobody can rest assured of the 2nd or 3rd place."