Having spent his third day in a breakaway, Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) was justly awarded the prize as the most combative rider in stage 6 of the Tour de France.

"When I'm at the front, there are few chances for the breakaway to succeed," he told Letour.fr. "It's my job to attack, it pleases me, it makes the team happy. We have to show what we can do because our sponsor stops at the end of the year.

"To break away three times in five days is a good sign. It means the legs are ok. I'll do it again, hoping that one day it'll work out. In the Pyrenees, I'll be working for Pierre Rolland and Thomas Voeckler.

"The radio communication didn't work well when Thomas went in between us and the bunch today. I didn't understand if it was worth waiting for him. But when I found him off the back towards the end, he told me it wouldn't have been worth it."