After having crashed out of the Vuelta a Espana while sitting in the top 20, Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) proved that the form is still good when he finished third in the first stage of the Tour du Gevaudan.

"In the Vuelta, I crashed," he told Directvelo. "I was not off the bike for a long time, just for a week. Then I could do 2-3 rides. Still, I have not been able to fully recover. I did not know where I was after 15 days racing running. Today I had the power and strength, but I lacked the explosiveness in the finale of the last climb. 

"Nicolas Edet attacked at the beginning of the final climb. Then FDJ led the chase and he was quickly caught. There was only Yoann Bagot and me in front. Then, Thomas Voeckler and Thibaut Pinot came out with their punch. I couldn't follow them. Anyway, the strongest won.

"Tomorrow, the last stage is relatively short at 130km. We'll see how it unfolds, we are not the leaders.

"After the Tour of Gevaudan, there are still good races until the end of the season. I want to end this year on a high after the crash in the Vuelta. I will be at the Tour de Vendée, Paris-Bourges and the Chrono des Nations, which is an important event for me."

Earlier in the race, his Cofidis teammate Loic Chetot was in the break.

"Initially, it was not at all planned to be in the break, I was not given that job," he told Directvelo. "I saw that there was an attack and I took the opportunity to join them. Behind, the peloton stopped, I thought it was going to be the right moment and everyone followed me. We ended up with 5, we never had more than 3 minutes. We knew that the best teams were controlling. So, to not end the day empty-handed, I did the two intermediate sprints to take the green jersey. Moreover, this is my last race of the season. 

"Tomorrow I'll see if the first sprint comes early. If this sprint comes later, I think I will work for my leaders because a win or a podium in the overall standings still has much more value."

Another rider in the break was Frederic Brun (Bretagne).

"We attacked from the start. Maxime (Cam) was the first to go. I remained vigilant and when he was caught, I went out," he told Directvelo. "We ended up with five. There was never a big gap. We were riding without going hard. The peloton managed the gap. We knew the break would not go all the way, but it allowed us to stay calm in the peloton.

"Jonathan (Hivert) is in form as evidenced by his 4th place. He can be there tomorrow and go for the win. "