Having struggled in all mountain stages, Jurgen Van Den Broeck was dealt a heavy blow in today's stage to Risoul when he lost almost five minutes and slipped to 11th in the overall standings. The Belgian now gives up on his GC campaign and seeks an explanation for his below-par showing.

Today the second stage in the Alps was programmed in the Tour. On the final climb to Risoul Jurgen Van den Broeck got distanced. He lost time on his GC opponents. He's now eleventh at 11'02" of leader Nibali.

Immediately after the start the road went uphill and the speed was high. The peloton got split up. A group of forty with yellow jersey Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde got ahead.

Seventeen riders took off and formed the break of the day. Among them De Marchi, Kruijswijk, Majka, Rodriguez, Sagan and Serpa. The first official climb of the day was the Col du Lautaret, that meant 34 kilometers of climbing. On the Col d'Izoard, with 2360 meters the highest point of this Tour, ten leaders were left. In the descent Edet could come back.

Also in the peloton things were going on. A small group with Nibali and other GC riders like Bardet, Mollema, Pinot and Valverde created a gap. Jurgen Van den Broeck and teammate Tony Gallopin were part of a chase group. They could bridge and a large peloton began the final climb to Risoul.

At the bottom the escapees had one minute left. Rafal Majka could stay ahead and won the stage. With 8.5 kilometers to go Van den Broeck got distanced from the Nibali group. Afterwards he could rely on the support of Gallopin, who stood by him until the finish. Gallopin and Van den Broeck finished as 25th and 26th respectively. In GC Van den Broeck lost three places and he's now eleventh.

"I had no legs today," he told Sporza. "My rivals rode away on the final climb and I just didn't have the legs to follow them. I really sucks. It is over.

"Maybe I was too good in the Dauphiné and wanted to prove myself too much. I really thought I was back, but apparently I'm not yet there. I feel guilty now, but with these legs I can't to anything.

"We had hoped that the rest of the top 10 would have a bad day, but instead it was Jurgen himself," said team manager Marc Sergeant. "I do not know what happened, but it is the end of the story."

"Van den Broeck was always ready to aim for the podium, but in the Vosges and the Alps he has been on the back foot. His crashes certainly have played a role here.

"Now we need to reflect and see how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully he has better legs in the Pyrenees, but this will undoubtedly be a blow for Van den Broeck. He must now recover and after the rest day try something in the mountains."

"Jurgen told me that his girlfriend has a bacterial infection in the lungs before the Tour," said team doctor Jan Mathieu. "Maybe it is in his body. I already had it in my mind since the cobbled stage to Arenberg.

"We're going to do a blood test to determine whether that is the reason. I have often seen riders who have mycoplasma symptoms that are similar to those of Jurgen. They can not go deep. Antibiotics and rest is the only solution.

"Another possible cause is that his body is blocked by those crashes and he therefore has no power."

"Jurgen lined up at the start in England in ideal condition. We are now looking for an explanation."