Having led the king of the mountains classification since stage 2, Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis) expects to lose the polka dot jersey on the first mountain stage of the 2014 Tour de France which finishes in Gérardmer La Mauselaine. Lemoine made his way into the stage 2 breakaway and was the first rider over three of the nine climbs during the hilly route.
The 31-year-old is realistic about his climbing abilities and with the possibility of the GC men going for the stage win on the 1.8km stage, which has an average gradient of 10.3%, he expects to swap one red-and-white jersey for another.
"It's going to be hard to keep this jersey tomorrow," he said after stage 7. "To get more points, I should break away but if I do so, other riders will do it with the same goal as me and some of them are better climbers than I am. I believe I'll go back to a domestique role and wait for an opportunity to try and go for a stage win."
Lemoine was active at the front of the race on the pavé of stage 5 as he finished 10th and surprised a few people with the impressive ride which he backed up with 12th place the next day.
Invited to the race as a wildcard team, Cofidis have been active in the breakaway's although their presence hasn't always been appreciated as Jerome Pineau (IAM Cycling) suggested but that won't stop Lemoine from trying to claim a maiden professional win during the Tour via breakaways.
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