Dejected after the cobbles stage which saw him lose 3:23 because of a mechanical problem, Thibaut Pinot invoked bad luck. Jeremy Roy, his teammate, published on his website an article where he told about this stage and the next on the Tour de France. FDJ team will try to keep confident.

"There are always victims when a cycle race borrows paved areas. The main victime on Tuesday was our leader Thibaut Pinot. It's hard, it's frustrating, it's annoying, but we're still here, determined to bounce back", Jeremy Roy explained on his website. "A bad day which is followed by another, then another. The good individual time trial in Utrecht is already far. Thibaut Pinot tipped over six minutes after four stages, of course it is not ideal, of course, that we are the first saddened, of course it does not make us happy." 

Roy stays confident. "Fortunately, not everything is written in advance on the Tour de France. We knew that the first week was going to be that of all dangers. On the cobblestones, any runner, any team can live the nightmare. Some who may be smiling now had the mask last year. Thibaut is at least still in the race, but not touched sank."

"Frustration has replaced optimism. For a simple reason: there is still more than two weeks of racing on this Tour de France. The battery of the electronic derailleur  will not make the soul every day."

Now, FDJ team have to change its plans for the following stages. "We are a group that works, we know. No way to break the excellent atmosphere in our team. It's not euphoria, it is the case to say it, but the smiles are not to leave our faces and the ambitions our heads. It's all part of the sport, even more cycling and even more of the Tour de France. Change his plans on a grand tour, it's hard. You never really know when to do it. It is too early to panic: it was long planned as the first assessment of the Tour de France is made on the evening team time trial of Plumelec. The appointment remains caught, though the trend is clear in terms of the general classification. It will then remain beautiful things to do. And even before that, with these next three days sprint opportunities for Arnaud Démare. We draw the lessons of the past days but we remain united and ambitious: there is a very long-term work to crown."