The impression of strength left by Thibaut Pinot yesterday on Port de Bales leads to the question whether the Frenchman is the best climber in the Tour de France.

The race for the KOM jersey seems to deny it as the polka-dot is on the back of Pole Rafal Majka thanks to his stage victory in Risoul. And Pinot if so far only 5th in this classification.

Yet everybody at the Village Depart in St Gaudens was still under the charm of the FDJ.fr climber in the first Pyrenees stage and wondering just how far he can go. Laurent Jalabert found him "sparkling" while expert Richard Virenque believes the Frenchman, currently third overall, can "break the leading group today" on the road to Pla d'Adet. Former world champion Luc Leblanc reminded that Pinot was also competent in the descent and called for an end to "his false reputation" as a poor downhiller.

More partisan, since he spent all of his career with FDJ, Sandy Casar insists to letour.fr Pinot "can finish second in Paris if he's patient enough".

For former yellow jersey holder Jean-Francois Bernard, however, "the best climber in this Tour remains Vincenzo Nibali because he was present in the Vosges and the Alps as well".

"Then you see a leader crack each day, but I see Valverde falter more than Nibali who, in any case, leads the rest by more than four minutes."