Thibaut is back at his best level. Six weeks after winning the queen stage of the Tour de Romandie after a long-distance  attack eight kilometers from the top of Champex, he won the queen stage of the Tour of Switzerland on the glacier in Sölden.

When Pinot attacked three kilometers from the finish, his victory was no longer in doubt. The performance was made even more impressive by the fact that he had hardly slept during the night. It also showed that he has made great progress in the management of his efforts and the race.

"The stage was very long," says sports director Yvon Madiot. "But we were all calm before reaching the bottom of the final climb. We were a little worried about Arnaud Démare because he was not good on the first climb but he was not far back at the top and his group got back on the descent fairly quickly. In terms of Thibaut, we wanted to go  for the stage win and we had decided to chase if a breakaway got too much of an advantage. There were 8 riders who had been granted more than 10 minutes 90 kilometers from the finish. Thibaut's teammates did a great job and even Arthur Vichot is progressing every day."

Yet, the gap was still 5 minutes 15 kilometers from the finish but this ascent of Sölden is so hard that the last attacker Stefan Denifl (IAM), could not be sure.

"At the foot of the climb, there were several attacks," says Madiot," including accelerations from Fuglsang (Astana) and Spilak (Katusha). Thibaut made a small gap but we had said in the morning, he woul not go into the red at the bottom of the climb. So he took the wheel of Steve Morabito before catching the first group of six riders. Spilak attacked again and Thibaut then showed he had good legs. He made an initial acceleration and then a second where he managed to get rid of Spilak. He caught Denifl 1.5 km from the finish and finished strong. At the finish, the differences were substantial."

Pinot gained 34 seconds on Pozzovivo (AG2R-La Mondiale), 37 seconds on Spilak, 43 seconds on Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), 1'15'' on Fuglsang, 1'37 '' on Tom Dumoulin, the former holder of the yellow jersey while Steve Morabito took a good thirteenth place at  2'16 ''.

Overall, Pinot is the Tour de Suisse leader with an advantage of 47 '' over Thomas, 50 '' on Spilak, 1'25 '' on Fuglsang and 1'32 '' on Dumoulin. Everything should be decided  in the final time trial.

"Jérémy Roy works well and Mathieu Ladagnous is very strong," Madiot sayd. "Sébastien Chavanel and William Bonnet do a tremendous job. Arthur Vichot is getting better and Steve Morabito is a great road captain. The easiest stages of this Tour of Switzerland are coming and if there is any danger, I know the teams of the sprinters, especially that of Cavendish, will work. I'm not worried."

"I'm very happy. It’s an important win for me and for the team. We wanted to win this stage and I had good legs today to do it," said Pinot. "It's good for my confidence and that's important in view of the Tour de France. Winning will help me stay relaxed and it's true, racing in Switzerland seems to suit me.

"The goal is to win the Tour de Suisse but the rouleurs like Thomas and Dumoulin aren't far back It'll be a long and difficult time trial. We'll see what happens on the day."