Thibaut Pinot: "There are no real marks" after 'punch' incident with soigneur

Thibaut Pinot found himself in a particularly unlucky situation yesterday, crashing towards the finale of the stage, and then being hit in the face by a soigneur from Trek - Segafredo accidentally as he was giving on it's riders musettes. 

“I was in the heat of the action and took a fist to my face. It happened right in front of me, I couldn’t avoid it," Pinot told Velonews. He is no stranger to complicated situations, however this was a new one for the Frenchman. Luckily for him, there were no consequences from the incidents besides the energy expended recovering position in the peloton twice. 

"There are no real marks, but I had to chase hard to get back into the bunch. It was really a bad day from start to finish," he concluded. Pinot finished the day in 51st place, still present in the peloton until the end despite the stage-hunting ambitions that see many save their legs for the mountainous stages.

Pinot is a contender to take the stage win today in Châtel, although he may - as in stage seven - stay in the peloton and support David Gaudu's GC ambitions.