Even though he lost the white jersey on today’s individual time trial, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was reasonably satisfied with his performance in the race against the clock and remains optimistic about his prospects of regaining that jersey on one of the mountainous challenges awaiting the riders in the final week of the French grand tour.

“Today's overview is positive,” Quintana said. “I left behind a hard day for me, probably the worst for my characteristics in this year's Tour. I didn't make my dream TT, but it was a good result since I didn't lose too much time to the riders I'm battling with in the standings. It was a complicated day for me with the wind - when it's a tailwind, it favours heavier riders, and when it blows on our faces, being a flat TT, you have to produce some power, and it's not easy with my body." 

"I think I lost the most time in the beginning, but I gained some pace after that and improved my result. I lost the white jersey, but I hope to get it back in some mountain stage and keep it until the end. Kwiatkowski will be a tough rival, but the stages ahead are quite demanding and that's good for me. We all at the team lost some time, but we're staying within the best ten overall, and we hope to improve it in the remainder of the race."