Although he cracked today under the pressure exerted by Alberto Contador on the penultimate climb of the day, the Col du Noyer, and lost his third place in the general classification as a result, Rohan Dennis has said that he is satisfied with his race overall.
Even though slipping from third to ninth is undoubtedly a little frustrating for him, the Garmin-Sharp rider sees the overall balance as being positive. He’s only in his first year as a professional and with a lead of one minute one second over Omega Pharma Quick Step’s Michal Kwiatkowski, he’s optimistic that he can hang on.
“That was hard,” he said after the stage. “The team did an awesome job to pace me at the front and I was trying to hang on as much as possible. I persisted when I saw a gap to [Michal] Kwiatkowski in the second last climb. At the bottom of the last climb, we lost that advantage but at the end, I keep the white jersey.
“It’s a good day for us. I’ve put pressure on myself for that. After six days of racing, I wasn’t sure I could handle the challenge. There’s one more day to achieve what has become my goal since the time trial.”
Dennis ends the day two minutes and 48 seconds off the yellow jersey of Chris Froome. Alejandro Valverde is just one second ahead of him in eighth.
The WorldTour race ends tomorrow with a stage to the top of the Montée de Risoul.