Greig Leach

The French are having their best Tour de France in years. It has been a long, long time since they have had two riders in the top five, they even have the potential to have two guys on the podium in Paris. With the hopes of a third stage win for their country, and a continuation of the battle for White and best French rider, the final climb towards Risoul, was led by four Frenchmen from three different teams. The Italian, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was paying close attention, watching for an attack that could threaten his Yellow Jersey. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and his teammate, Arnold Jeannesson had chased back onto Romain Bardet's (AG2R) wheel in the valley and along with Pierre Rolland (Europcar) they all hoped to improve their placings by putting the hurt to the rest of those in the top ten.