While Bauke Mollema successfully defended his second place overall in Tour de France on stage 16 Tuesday, Laurens ten Dam suffered a setback. In the race to Gap, won by Movistar's Rui Costa, the Belkin Pro Cycling Team rider lost a position to Nairo Quintana (Movistar). The Dutchman is now sixth, but he remains hungry.

"I honestly did not expect a fight today,” ten Dam said after dropping one place in the general classification. “Unfortunately, I could not follow on the final climb. It was an explosive one. When two riders in front of me cracked, a gap suddenly appeared that I could not close. It's not fun to lose time in a relatively easy stage, but I have to take my loss and in the time trial tomorrow, I'll give everything I have. The previous time trial gave me a morale boost. This one suits me even better."

His teammate Bauke Mollema fared somewhat better on Tuesday’s stage which suddenly came to live as Sky dictated a furious pace on the final climb and Alberto Contador, aided by Saxo-Tinkoff teammate Roman Kreuziger, went into attacking mode.

"I think we can expect more attacks from riders like Contador in the coming days. Today I felt good. Before the stage, I watched a video of the final climb's descent so that I knew exactly how it flowed. Tomorrow's time trial is quite tricky, but I hope I can take time on Contador. With two climbs, I fancy my chances on the parcours. The previous time trial gave me a lot of morale."