Cyril Lemoine has been one of the stars in the first part of the Tour de France as he has worn the mountains jersey since stage 2. Being no pure climber, however, he expects to lose his lead tomorrow and readies himself to a return to his domestique role.

Cyril Lemoine has been one of the great surprises of the first part of the Tour de France. The Cofidis rider has both excelled on the cobbles and worn the mountains jersey for most of the race.

Tomorrow, however, the race hits the Vosges and this is likely to spell an end to his time in polka-dots.

"It's going to be hard to keep this jersey tomorrow," he said. "To get more points, I should break away but if I do so, other riders will do it with the same goal as me and some of them are better climbers than I am. I believe I'll go back to a domestique role and wait for an opportunity to try and go for a stage win.”

Apart from Lemoine's success, the first part of the race has been tough for Cofidis as several riders have been involved in crashes. Yesterday no less than four riders from the team hit the deck and they are now licking their wounds.

"We had four crashes: two less serious for Rein [Taaramae] and Dani [Navarro] and two for Adrien [Petit] adnd Egoitz [Garcia] who require medical support," team doctor Jacky Maillot said. "They all took the start this morning and we remain hopeful for Egoitz who is the worst affected."