Thibaut Pinot may not have had the same Tour de France result he had in 2014, but 2015 has easily been the French climber’s best season in the bunch, after taking big wins in Romandie, Suisse, on Alpe d’Huez at the Tour and now stage one and the GC of the Tour du Gevaudan, his first GC success since 2011.

“I am relaxed and happy. I didn't get so many opportunities to win overall given my focus on WorldTour events where many big names compete. The Tour du Gévaudan is one of the 'smaller' but very important races I have on my calendar. The other one was the Critérium International last April in Corsica, and I failed to win. I certainly put too much pressure on myself there and I made tactical mistakes. On the contrary I felt relaxed at the Tour du Gévaudan, I made the right moves at the right time, and I had some great support from my teammates. In short, it was a good test,” Pinot told Cyclingnews after claiming the win in Gevaudan.

Pinot spoke about many French climbers, like Thomas Voeckler and Alexis Vuillermoz, saying the former can still challenge for big wins and that the latter is not just a nice guy, but is looking more and more like Joaquim Rodriguez after every race.

But Pinot also spoke about Romain Bardet, the man he is dueling with to be France’s next Tour winner, and he talked about their “healthy” rivalry.

“This is a healthy rivalry. We were together last month in Rio for the Olympics test-event and we had some good time together. Off the bike I can say we are friends. In races the fight is honest and motivating. We are a good bunch of young French riders and I feel I must train hard to keep my position. Look at another rider like Pierre Latour [AG2R La Mondiale's neo-pro was third at Route du Sud in June, behind Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana, Ed.]: he is rising fast and kicking my ass!”

Now Pinot is gearing up for his last objective of 2015, the Tour of Lombardy. He says he likes the course and history of the Italian races. After a 14th place last year, he is also riding Tre Valli Varesine and Milan-Turin to get himself into better one-day racing shape. He also spoke about what he needed to do to win the race on Sunday.

“Good legs and good luck. I am not sure this is a question of experience because the course changes every year. I know cycling history, I watched many Classics on television so I have a lot of respect for them. I could race Liège-Bastogne-Liège one day but not in 2016 because I prefer to focus on the Tour de Romandie. This is why Lombardy is something unique for me.”