Thibaut Pinot (opens in new tab) is still receiving three hours of treatment a day after his crash on the first day of the Tour de France (opens in new tab), but he and his Groupama-FDJ team are relieved after the race's first summit finish on stage 4 (opens in new tab) He was relieved after.

Pinot fell during a late pile-up in Nice (opens in new tab) and suffered an abrasion on his right side, but the most concerning injury was a hard blow to his lower back from a crashing rider that left him with a hematoma.

According to "L'Equipe" (opens in new tab), Pinot received 90 minutes of treatment each morning since the crash at the hands of the team's osteopaths and piotherapists, as well as cryotherapy and electro-therapy. After each stage, he returns to the massage table for two hours, sometimes not going to bed before 11 pm.

He also reportedly uses kinesiology tape on his back and a memory foam mattress to reduce pressure points while sleeping.

"Sunday and Monday, his back was completely frozen," Groupama-FDJ physician Jackie Mayo told L'Equipe.

"Tuesday he certainly wasn't at 100%. [Tuesday was] certainly not 100%. Tuesday was a good test. It will get better in the next few days. We can be optimistic."

Pinot himself was pessimistic before the first summit finish at Orciere Melette, seemingly resigned to losing time to his rivals. However, he finished in the lead group of 16, only handing a bonus second to Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma).

"If you had told me that on Sunday or Monday, I would have signed up right away; I was dragging my body miserably for two days, but this time I feel much better," Pinot said.

"It was a steady climb, the pace was super fast, and Jumbo Visma was setting a hell of a tempo. There wasn't much we could do. In the end, I was very happy with the result."

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Another encouraging sign for Pinot was the presence of David Gaudoux. He, too, had suffered from a crash on the first day, but continued to climb with Pinot all the way to Orciere-Merret.