Pierre Rolland is the only rider who is trying to go for GC in both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia but in the first part of the French grand tour, he has clearly not been at his best. However, the Frenchman is feeling that his condition is growing and hopes to have a good final week.

"On the Tour, there is no easy day," he said. "You have a classic every day. Today we had wind and a big storm. In other sports, they would have called it quits. It added a bit of suspense as we only caught the break in the last stretch. 

"I had an up and down start to the Tour. Down at La Planche des Belles Filles when I went through hard times at the worst possible moment. Ups on July 13 when we took four minutes back with all the team.

"In Risoul, sensations were back and I had good legs today. For the last week, I have good hopes. It took time to come back, I don't know whether it was because of the Giro but if I feel good in the third week and I ride a good end of the Tour, I'll be satisfied. There are other Frenchmen at the top. That's great.""