The first stage of the Tour of Switzerland was not the most difficult, but it was the scene of a big fight due to the double passage of the Michaelskreuz climb.

The strong riders came to the fore and Thibaut Pinot was among them, finishing fourth behind winner Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida). He got reassured even though he still lacks a bit of race speed.

Sports director Yvon Madiot was really satisfied. "Fortunately, Arnaud Démare who crasked in a curve before the first passage of the climb, is unhurt. He just broke his bike but was able to continued.

Demare, William Bonnet and Sebastien Chavanel had had the job of looking  after their leader early in the stage. He felt well-protected as his teammates even chased down an early break of 20 riders.

"They are cohesive, vigilant and do their job well," Madiot said. "On the first climb, they took care of the positioning for Thibaut and Steve Morabito. Matthieu Ladagnous did a great job at that point but in fact everybody was good."

During the second passage, Pinot was with the best and although he was not on a great day, he was in the mix for the stage win in a group of nine riders. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Simon Spilak (Katusha) took the lead in the final part of the climb but he did not panick.

"Thibaut lacks a bit of race pace and it's normal," said Madiot. "But he knows now to manage his race. He relied on Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) to do his part of the work and he brought them back on the descent."

Pinot even accompanied Geraint Thomas in a late move and was also on the attack with Jakob Fuglsang before taking fourth place in the stage to move into seventh overall, just behind teammate Steve Morabito who ended in a group 10 seconds further back.

"Monday will not be easy," Madiot warned. "There was a landslide on the road and the stage has been shortened. The riders will therefore do the Gotthard climb before heading to Lugano. In the finale, there is a climb fifteen kilometers from the finish. I do not think there will be a sprint."