Greig Leach

With another 110 kilometers to race it was a bit of a surprise to see the breakaway's advantage drop to just twenty-two seconds. As the peloton drew close, it was Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) pushed the pace of his breakaway companions Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Jonas Rutsch (Intermache-Wanty). There had been a fifth escapee, but he found the pace too much and dropped back into the relative safety of the peloton. Thomas had grabbed the one king of the mountain points over the first climb. I am sure he hoped to stay away to vie for the points at the second and/or third climbs of the day. It didn't look like those behind were going to let that happen.