As strong winds decimated the seventh stage of the Tour de France, five riders, including team leader Thibaut Pinot, rode strongly to a 1:21 The team ran a strong race to win by a margin of 1:21.

Pinot and his right-hand man, David Gaudou, were battered and bruised on the first stage of the Tour last Saturday when they hit the ground. Pinot initially appeared relatively unaffected, but the team later admitted that he was undergoing three hours of treatment a day with an osteopathic and physiotherapist to heal his injuries and his back pain.

Despite his early struggles, Gordou appears ready to work for Pinot on Saturday's stage 8 climb into the Pyrenees.

Stéphane Kühn, Valentin Madouas, Mathieu Ladagne, and Rudy Morard, who led the race with Pinot on Friday, will be joined by Tour champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadier), Colombia's Nairo Quintana ( Arkea Samsic) and Jumbo-Visma duo Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin in the same lead group.

Pinot is in good position in 9th place overall, 13 seconds behind race leader Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott).

"I always had to be careful and stay in front," said Kühn. I told Thibault to stay in my circle."

"It was also a good sign that we stayed together when the pace started to pick up. It shows how strong this group is," said the European time trial champion.

"The climbers helped and protected us all day. For us rulers, the work really started after the castor for Thibault's position."

Sport Director Thierry Briceau added: "We are very proud of our team. The rest of the Tour will begin this weekend with two mountain stages in the Pyrenees mountains."

The Tour's first stage, the "Thibaut" stage, will be the first of two mountain stages in the Pyrenees mountains.