French rider Thibaut Pinot is positive about his chances in this year’s Tour de France. The FDJ leader owns a pet lamb but on his bike the French climber is more of the predator type and he is looking to administer some hurt to his rivals in this month's Tour de France.

"My third place last year gave me confidence", he said in an interview with the Reuters news agency. "When you're third in the Tour you belong in the front of the peloton, this is something I forced into my head."

Knowing Pinot’s weakness, Bardet’s Ag2r-La Mondiale team tried to pile on the pressure on the descents but a newly focused Pinot was having nothing of it. "The fact they tried to hurt me in the descent was a sign of weakness from them, it just showed they were unable to drop me in the climbs. What they did gave me a boost. I was angry."

Marc Madiot is confident about his leader. "What he strives for is fighting with the top guns in the mountains. Winner or loser, that's what he loves. In these cases he's like Don Quixote, he's not scared of them. He's got character, there are conflicts with him. Sometimes I yell at him, sometimes he yells at me but it's always quickly forgotten."