By Jean-François Quénet in Morzine
"I took the corner too wide," he admitted. "And I went into the grass. It may have been spectacular but I wasn't hurt at all. I'm more disappointed because I lost around about thirty seconds. That might cost me a lot in the time trial."
His position on GC is even threatened by Christophe Moreau, his companion at AG2R who rode as a domestique for him the day before but didn't wait this time. "This is normal," Dessel stated. "I've got nothing bad to say about that. He had good legs, it was a big war in the climb, he was right to go. I was missing a little bit of strength."
He was still smiling at the finish though. This is his nature. He's a friendly and usually happy man. "What happened today isn't a drama. I'm not targeting the honorary title of first Frenchman anyway. For me, making the top 10 of the Tour de France is an enormous result. Now I can truly hope for it."