[lordkelvin]

The question at the Village Depart this morning was to know whether Vincenzo Nibali, who lost three seconds to Alberto Contador in the last stretch of stage 8 in La Mauselaine, had shown his first sign of weakness in this Tour de France.

The Italian's answer was no. He insisted he had just made a gear mistake. The Spaniard said he was surprised not to have dropped the yellow jersey earlier.
What do others think?
For former world champion Laurent Brochard, the three seconds lost by Nibali are meaningful: "It's a sign of hope for Alberto, but also for the others. Maybe if Albeeto attacked earlier, he would have taken more time off him.
For Jean-Francois Bernard, third in the 1987 Tour, "Nibali is not relaxed".
"For me, he made a mistake to keep the jersey. He is wearing his team out."

© Tour de France