The French are having a miserable time in this 100th Tour, without a single ‘home’ winner to celebrate so far. On Bastille Day, many home fans were cheering on incumbent polka dot jersey wearer Pierre Rolland, but Europcar’s team leader could do no better than 28th, more than 8½ minutes down. To add insult to injury, he lost the lead in the mountains classification too.
On Bastille Day, French fans hoped for a Pierre Rolland win (Image: ASO/B Bade)