"The DS was yelling at me to chew on him" - David Gaudu on battle with Nairo Quintana

David Gaudu and Nairo Quintana have been riding consistently and strongly in the mountains, and after stage 17 they find themselves in the position to fight for the fourth place - with only four seconds separating the duo from each other.

"Quintana didn't take over at the end and he decided to attack me. The DS was yelling at me to chew on him," Gaudu said in the flash interview right after the stage. "I saw that he had attacked too far. I said to myself, 'you, my dear, I'm going to pick you up and drop you off', it's a fair return of things".

With the likes of Romain Bardet and Adam Yates having suffered bad days in this final week, the two now sit fourth and fifth comfortably ahead of the rest of the Top10. Nine seconds separated them at the start of the day, which has seen some reluctance in collaboration for the leaders of the two French teams.

The two saw the gaps being created in the steep dash to the line where David Gaudu blasted off the group to take five seconds on the Colombian. Having similar talent in the time-trials, the two will be part of an interesting battle tomorrow in the final Pyreneen day.