Nairo Quintana remains one of the favorites for victory in the 102nd edition of the Tour de France. But the Movistar Team leader knew some difficult days during the first week. For example, last sunday when the Colombian rider floundered in the crosswinds in Zeeland last Sunday, conceding a minute and a half.

Near to Le Havre, he crashed has suffered no unduly rough seas since, and he reaches the second weekend of the race in 16th place overall, 1:56 down on Froome.

"We’re satisfied especially because up to now he’s been good, his health is good and he’s recovered from his crash yesterday," Movistar manager Eusebio Unzue told Cyclingnews. "He went through some difficult days but he got through them very well, though it’s true that we’ve lost some important time on Froome that won’t be easy to recover because he’s shown he’s very much on form."

Unzue explained that the second stage was the most stressful. "That was the toughest day, with bad weather and few riders on the team who fell. It was a day where the team was a bit disorganised because of the crashes and that might we didn’t get it together to limit the gap as we would have liked", he added. "But I’m very happy with how things have gone since, because Nairo has come through very dangerous stages with the wind and the pavé, all things that aren’t ideal for him. Doing some classics in the spring proved to be very reassuring to him before the pavé stage."

"Riders can have bad days, and if the real heat arrives, then look out because anything could happen, especially because this first week has been animal stuff. People have put in a huge effort every day, partly because of the crosswinds and the fear of echelons. All of those small things have added up to make a very, very stressful opening week."

After a week of racing, Chris Froome remains best placed to General. "At this moment, I think Froome has shown that he is very, very, very strong," Unzue said. "He was very good on the Mur de Huy, in theory a stage that wasn’t ideal for his characteristics. And then after last year’s problems, he got through the cobbles very well, with a strong team. He’s had a fantastic first week. The other years, I’ve seen him a bit nervous, but he’s been very calm here."