Like several other teams in this Tour de France, IAM Cycling had to change plans after the loss of their leader, Mathias Frank, who broke his left leg in Nancy a week ago.

“It's never easy to lose your leader, you have to change all your plans and reassess your goals,” said team director Eddy Seigneur, who still has several possibilities to shine in the remaining stages of this Tour.

On the so-called “transition stages”, Sylvain Chavanel, Martin Elmiger and even Jerome Pineau, who recovered well from his wrist fracture in the Dauphine a month ago, can play their own card.

Jerome Pineau also has another role to play, act as a road captain and look after the young riders in the team like Tour debutant Sebastien Reichenbach, who is hoping to make an impact in the mountains.

“Sebastien and Marcel Wyss, who tried twice to go in a break in the Vosges, are our best hopes in the mountain. Sebastien suffered a lot in the first week and it's true that Jerome took him under his helm to restore his confidence,” Seigneur said to letour.fr.

Finally, the goal is the same as for other teams still to earn laurels in this Tour: win a stage.