Thibaut Pinot again proved that he is the second best climber in the Tour de France when he finished second in the final mountain stage and gained time on Alejandro Valverde. The Frenchman was pleased with his gains and already sensed that the Spaniard was on a bad day when he attacked on the descent from the Tourmalet.

For many, Alejandro Valverde's brave attack on the descent from the Col du Tourmalet was a brave move but for others it was indication that the Spaniard was not feeling well. Thiabut Pinot saw it as a sign of weakness and so decided to put the Spaniard under pressure on the final climb.

The efforts paid off as Pinot gained enough time on Valverde and moved into second in the overall standings. However, the Frenchman knows that it will be hard to stay on the podium in the final time trial.

"For sure, I'm tired," he said. "But I've done a good job. When I saw Valverde attacking downhill, I took it as a sign of weakness. Once Nibali attacked, we knew it was no point panicking and trying to follow him, otherwise the risk was too big to put ourselves in the red.

"Later I've wanted to gain time over Valverde and Péraud. I've managed to do it over Valverde but a bit less over Péraud. For the white jersey, my lead over Bardet is a bit bigger too.

"The time trial will be decisive. It's nice to be second on Thursday or Friday evening, but what counts really is Sunday evening. I don't want to waste what's been done since the start.

"I don't want to finish off the podium. But between second and fourth, there are only fifteen seconds! And I'm the less good time trialist of the three of us. I'll have to have a big day. I've recently improved in time trialing so..."