Thibaut Pinot into top 10 at final Tour de France despite missing out on stage win: "I have already used up a lot of energy"

Thibaut Pinot made his first appearance at the sharp end of a stage on his final Tour de France on Thursday's stage 12. Despite being unable to take the stage win, the Frenchman has risen into the top 10 of the general classification.

"I didn't really have a good feeling today," the Groupama-FDJ surprisingly quips in his post-stage interview after finishing sixth on the stage behind eventual winner, Ion Izagirre. "We made an effort from the start and were in the end, but I never recovered from the opening phase. I broke down completely, but I don't regret anything."

Unlike earlier this year at the Giro d'Italia however, when Pinot used a number of breakaway raids to help secure an overall finish of 5th in the general classification, at the Tour de France, the 33-year-old is not keen on riding for GC.

"I'm not worried about that. On a day like this I have already used up a lot of energy," he concludes before giving a look at his tactics for the monumental climb up the Grand Colombier on stage 13. "On Friday we will take it a bit easier again."