Two days ago Thibaut Pinot came close to his first season victory when he finished second on the second stage of the Tour du Gevaudan. The Frenchman regrets the missed opportunity as he continues to build form for Il Lombardia.

Thibaut Pinot may have had a highly successful season but the Frenchman is about to end 2014 without a win. Two days ago he missed what could have been his biggest opportunity when he finished second on the hilly final stage of the Tour du Gevaudan.

Pinot was part of an 11-rider group that arrived at the finish after two passages of the famous Laurent Jalabert climb in Mende. In the sprint, he was beaten by Alexis Vuillermoz and ended the race in fourth overall.

"We had a rider [Courteille] in the break of six riders," he told Directvelo. "It was the play to have a guy in front so that he could help me later. We chased behind when the gap reached 5 minutes

"I was not on a great day. The second time up the Jalabert climb I just followed, I did not have the legs to attack. I'm frustrated to have missed the break yesterday. I focused on the sprint in the final stage. Alexis Vuillermoz launched from afar. He took the win, he had more speed than me. When he got an advantage of three bike lengths, it was over.

"I draw a good conclusion of my Tour of Gevaudan, although there was of course the disappointment of not winning. The next appointments on my schedule is PSG-Barcelona on Tuesday in the Champions League (laughs) and especially next Sunday's Tour of Lobardy. This is the last big race of my season. The route has changed. At a first glance, I like it less than the previous one. The difficulties are concentrated in the last third of the race. 

"If I had to do it again, I would have chosen a completely different program than the Vuelta after the Tour de France. It was a mistake to do the double this year. I was too tired to do another three weeks of racing. I should have participated in French races that I like, like the Tour de l'Ain and the Tour du Limousin. This might have allowed me to earn a selection for the World Championships."