Pinot welcomes 65km mountain stage at 2018 Tour de France
(Cyclingnews.com)

The television cameras may have been focused on Romain Bardet´s reaction to the route of the 2018 Tour de France at the Palais des Congrès, but his fellow countryman Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) was equally enthusiastic about the design of next year´s race. A better time triallist than Bardet, Pinot will be less preoccupied by the penultimate day time trial in the Basque Country and he was bullish about his prospects of emerging unscathed from the daunting opening week in northern France. The quantity and variety of mountain stages in weeks two and three, meanwhile, seem likely to ensure Pinot builds his season around the Tour in 2018, after targeting the Giro d´Italia - where he placed fourth overall - this year.ADVERTISEMENT Pinot has endured a complicated relationship with the Tour during his career. He was best young rider on his Tour debut in 2012 and placed third overall in 2014, but he has abandoned the race on three of his six appearances. `I like this Tour, it´s a Tour that´s good for me,` Pinot said on Tuesday. `I hope I can finally show my real potential in the Tour. `It´s a very beautiful route, well designed. The opening days will be complicated, with finishes for puncheurs and a stage on the pavé. It won´t be boring.` You can read more at Cyclingnews.com