The stage was eventually won by
Einer Rubio. Alongside the
Movistar Team rider at the front of the race was
Thibaut Pinot who started the day just over four minutes down on Thomas. "We stayed calm, we knew it was a small group," Thomas says. “When the group went with Pinot, we kept control. Ben Swift and Pavel Sivakov were not far behind. They've done a really good job of staying close by."
“They came back on the descent and then were able to do the valley and the first part of the final climb. Everything was under control," he continues. "Pinot is of course a great rider, we didn't want him to take a big chunk of time back. The boys checked it very well."