Greig Leach

Ignorant of the drama behind, Pierre Rolland (Europcar) had pressed his advantage from the summit of the Col du Chaussy to pry open a nice lead on the descent. He continued his attack across the valley and over the top of the Col du Mollard. Ignoring his possible faux pas, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) continued his attack on the group containing the Maillot Jaune and the rest of the big names of the Tour, eventually catching the Frenchman leading the stage. As Nibali caught up to Rolland, he reached out to encourage the rider for Movistar to join him in a combined effort to leave the rest of the peloton behind. Perhaps he even offered the stage victory to Rolland if he helped him gain as much time on the others as possible.