Michał Kwiatkowski (open in new tab) finished more than five minutes behind his ragged and injured Ineos Grenadier (open in new tab) teammate Pavel Sivakov on stage 3 of the Tour de France (open in new tab).

And the benefit will be realized as early as today, Tuesday, in the first summit finish at Orsieres-Mellette.

While not the longest or toughest climb that riders will face in this year's Tour de France, a summit finish early in the race is relatively rare, and Kwiatkowski, along with his Ineos teammate, defending champion Egan Bernal know they will need to be vigilant in order to protect him.

The Colombian is not stepping foot in this race and is in sixth place overall, 17 seconds behind Julien Alphilippe's lead. While it seems unlikely that Orciere Mellette will disrupt the race, there is a sense of tension in the air and some change in the GC contenders is sure to occur.

"If you look at it throughout the three weeks, it's not the most difficult day. But you never know what the conditions will be like, depending on the weather and the various factors that will affect how the race unfolds," Kwiatkowski warned.

"If there is a chance, we want to take it, but we also have to watch out for our rivals.

Whether Alaphilippe will be a true competitor for the yellow jersey remains to be seen.

He put in a frenetic performance on stage 2, winning the stage and taking the yellow, but there are many tough challenges ahead in the second week. However, Kwiatkowski believes that French Hope could even extend his GC lead at the end of stage 4. Especially on the line, where bonus seconds are up for grabs.

"Julien can widen the gap even more," said the Ineos rider after Caleb Yuan's stage 3 victory (open in new tab).

"There are plenty of chances to take the yellow jersey from him. There are a lot of opportunities to take the yellow jersey from him, even from the riders who are still in the GC standings. The yellow jersey is the yellow jersey and if you have a chance to take it, you have to try.

Kwiatkowski finished stage 3 alongside Sivakov, who is still reeling from the effects of two heavy crashes on stage 1. Kwiatkowski, making his Tour de France debut, has dug deep over the past two days, and his Polish teammate said he could find his footing in the coming days.

"He is mentally ready to survive. The Tour de France is three weeks long. Every day, he will know that if he can get through the moments of suffering, he will get better," Kwiatkowski said.