"It's better to have a small underperformance today than tomorrow" - Kevin Vauquelin hopes to return into top-5

Although the mountain time trial to Peyragudes didn't go perfectly for Kévin Vauquelin, the home rider still lives his dream while fighting for overall top-5 at Tour de France. 

"Maybe I started off a bit too strong... I was completely exhausted," Vauquelin reflects afterwards. "I think yesterday's efforts left their mark: it's the first time my body has experienced this. Honestly, I'm half shivering, I'm exhausted. I haven't really looked at the exact times yet, but I think I've still limited the damage."

With Saturday's brutal mountain stage that features two special category climbs in mind, the Frenchman hopes his legs will respond better again. "It's better to have a small underperformance today than tomorrow, because tomorrow, I think the gaps will be much bigger."

It's a completely new scenario for the 24-year-old to ride GC: "It's also a discovery for my body, so it's normal that sometimes it blocks a bit. It was a bit of an off day: I wasn't feeling great this morning, a bit of a stomach ache... Maybe the stress is also rising. I think I need to let my body recover, and it will come back."

"Ultimately, a day like today, even if the effort is very intense over 20-25 minutes, it's almost more recoverable than a stage like yesterday. The crowd was incredible, and that's really what allowed me to keep fighting, even in the toughest moments. I felt like I was a little out of it, but their support gave me strength," concluded Vauquelin.

The Arkea - B&B Hotels clocked 11th best time today, losing 2:35 to Tadej Pogacar. What was more important that his closest opponent in GC - Oscar Onley was nearly 30 seconds faster, which allowed the Brit to overtake Vauquelin in fight for 5th place overall. Vauquelin will enter the key stage 14 with a 4-second deficit to Onley and 35 seconds ahead of seemingly resurrected Primoz Roglic.