Thibaut Pinot survived the hectic first week of the Tour de France with limited damage and was looking forward to today when the race finally hit his favourite terrain in the mountains. The Frenchman performed excellently well by taking fifth and is now reassured going into the harder stages.

Thibaut Pinot has never liked the fierce battle for position and so he risked losing quite a bit of time in the hectic first week of the Tour de France. He lost a few seconds on the short, steep climbs in the Yorkshire hills and did well on the cobbles but suffered an unfortunate loss in the crosswinds a few days ago.

Hence, he was already set back a bit before the race hit his favourite terrain in the mountains but today he proved that he up for the challenge of winning the white jersey and taking a top 10 result. He finished 5th in today's hard stage - 4th among the race favourites - and was very pleased with the outcome.

"It's sure that I wanted to test myself," he said. "It's a pity to see such a beautiful region in the mist. I still hope it was a great show in spite of the rain.

"To start with mid-mountain allows us to step up a gear. We spent one week on the big gear and on the climbs you need to adjust your pedaling.

"For me, obviously it's going to be between Nibali and Contador. Today I saw it from a distance, I'm a little bit behind. Maybe on a stage or a hill that suits me better I will have a chance, but for the three-week race, I'm afraid they're still ahead of me.

"Personally, I'm happy. I did well andI am reassured, I am in tune with my goal. It was raining but I knew the roads and it helped me. I appreciate my performance. Today I wanted to be with the best and that's what I was."

"The Tour de France will be long for many people," sports director Yvon Madiot said. "In the end, I saw good riders and some who were very tired. Thibaut did very well. This morning, he knew where he was going well and what I saw was very reassuring. Overall, he is in the second wave of riders and that is good. 

"At the collective level, it was good. In the last kilometers, Thibaut lost his teammates Arthur Vichot due to mechanical failure and Arnold Jeannesson who was held up by Talansky's crash but they were also good."