Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) lost another three seconds to Geraint Thomas in the 8th stage of the Tour of Switzerland . The Frenchman is now only 32 seconds ahead of the Welshman but still believes in his chances in the final time trial.

It was a very hard stage," he told L'Equipe. "It was very fast from the start. We had to ride hard to keep the breakaway at two minutes and then try to catch them, and I was really tired. Of course I had to keep the wheel of Geraint Thomas but I did not succeed. It was decided on a cobbled climb, a small Flemish helling. I lacked strength, I had sore legs and I just did not have the means to follow. 

"I think that if they had wanted to design a course that did not benefit me, they could would not have done better. This is a very special time trial. There are turns every 200 meters and changes of direction every 100 meters. The climbs are steep and the descents very technical. You can never get into a rhythm. It will be very difficult to manage and this is a time trial that will create big gaps

"I would bet on myself anyway. I believe in it Hopefully, I will be in better shape than I was today. It's not general fatigue, I can still find my legs. Riders who are more punchy were less tired than me. But tomorrow, we'll see."

''It was not terrible in Thursday's stage, we were unlucky in Friday's stage and today the leader of the Tour of Switzerland was a little tired," sports director Yvon Madiot said. "The situation was tense. We were riding on a new circuit. There were traffic islands, roundabouts, pavements, tram rails, narrow and winding roads. This is the Tour de Suisse. In the bus, my riders said they were lucky to race in good weather. If it had rained, it would have been critical. 

"Initially, it was really very fast until the breakaway of 19 riders took off shape. Earlier in the stage, Henao (Team Sky) had slipped into a move and Thibaut's teammates reacted immediately. Once the break took off, with Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) being the most dangerous 5 minutes down in GC, there was no danger. We rode with Team Sky to limit the gap but it was close all the time. There are many who are ready to fight and especially those seeking a spot on the Tour de France roster and they need to race! The Tour de Suisse is a special race.

"In the last laps, Thomas attacked but Thibaut limited the loss to three seconds. The time trial will be held on the same circuit and it's good for Thibaut with ascents and descents, turns and not long straights where you have to use big gears. We do not know what will happen but he has a chance. We believe in it."