Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) rode well with the other favorites to take the top overall finish on stage 8 of the Tour de France in Paris in two weeks' time in Roudanville. The Colombian climber is in sixth place overall, 13 seconds behind race leader Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).

"I have good legs and all the right signs," Quintana said in an Arkea Samsic press release after the stage.

"I tried to break away several times at the end of the stage, but the other team leaders always came back to the group I was in.

"My rivals are very strong. He continued, "I also think about Diego Costa, who crashed on this stage and unfortunately had to retire from the Tour tonight.

After being taken to a hospital in Saint-Gaudens, Italian climber Rosa was found to have broken her right collarbone.

"On the descent of Porto do Valles, I lost my front wheel in a corner and there was nothing I could do to avoid crashing," Rosa explained.

Sport director Sébastien Hinault said, "This first stage in the Pyrenees was both good and bad for Alcare Samsic. It was clearly a great performance by the whole team that allowed Nairo to go on the offensive on the Peyres route and the final climb. Of course, Diego Llosa's crash and the resulting broken collarbone were not so good.

"But the Tour is a long way to the end. We're in a race of elimination," Inaud continued, with Grupama-FDJ's Thibaut Pinot dropping out of contention on stage 8 and Jumbo-Visma's Tom Dumoulion losing time after sacrificing his chances for Primoz Roglic.

"Nairo is still in sixth place overall tonight, with the top riders within a few seconds of each other.