Greig Leach

The adage goes, "make hay while the sun shines" flor Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) it may be more likely, "Get points while the road is flat." Today's stage is going to be all abou tthe HC climb up the Col de Soudet and the Cat 1 climb, the Col de Maria Blanque and that is not the terrain for a sprinter. Playing the long game, he and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) used the intermediate sprint to pull closer to the lead of the sprinter's jersey held by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) before they would be dropped back to form the grupetto. This move meant that Coquard climbed into second in the race for the Maillot Vert and Pedersen is now up to fourth. Coquard immediately dropped off the pace, but Pedersen continued with the early large break away as they started up the Col de Soudet.