On the home trainer recovering from the extreme intensity of climbing the Mur de Huy, Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne) was not too dissastisfied with the outcome of stage 3 of the Tour de France. He had got to the bottom of the dinal climbs with teammates Anthony Delaplace and Florian Vachon and only lost 45 seconds to Chris Froome and 27 seconds to Alberto Contador.

"This climb is too explosive for me. I am a climber for long ascents. I'm not explosive enough for this," he said. "I remember a very good team effort. I was supported all day. We were eager to redeems ourselves."

Sepulveda had done a surprisingly poor time trial and lost time in the windy stage 2.

At noon, manager Emmanuel Hubert had been very clear. It was not time to change the pre-race place. Everyone stayed around Sepulveda while also searching for opportunities to try to win a stage. "The cohesion was solid this time. The dynamics will return. We fear the stage with the cobbles but then the road will be clear," Hiubert said.

Bretagne had been lucky not to be involved in the crash that marred the stage.

The day after his 103km breakaway in the Netherlands, Armindo Fonseca showed that he has almost regained his best legs: he was still with all the favorites at the bottom of the Mur de Huy. Even Brice Feillu was smiling at the top of the Mur. Having reached the top among the first half of the peloton, he is no longer the lanterne rouge in the race.