Pierre Rolland attacked on the highest climb of this year's Tour de France to take back his polka dot jersey as king of the mountains.

While the Frenchman finished the stage well down on stage eight winner and new yellow jersey Chris Froome (Sky), Rolland will now have the freedom to target a stage win of his own.

Rolland's chances of making an impact on the general classification took a knock on the first day in the Pyrenees as Team Sky put in a devastating display to blow all their rivals to pieces.

But the silver lining is two-fold, with Rolland doing enough to win back the polka dot jersey [on equal points with Froome who will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow] while freeing up his chances of targeting a stage win in the remaining two weeks of the race.

“I'd prefer to lose time while trying to win than to lose without trying anything,” said Rolland at the finish when speaking to French television. “I tried everything today. The heat was pretty unbearable and we're not used to riding in such conditions. Now I won't have much of a say in the general classification.”

Rolland finished the stage in 22nd place, 3:47 down on a Chris Froome who was head and shoulders above everyone else in the fierce heat of the Pyrenees. The Europcar team leader is now 4:57 down on Froome on GC in 25th position.