Nicolas Roche has said that he is feeling the effects of the Giro d'Italia on his legs towards the end of the Tour de France, saying that he has felt drained in recent stages of the race.

"I was expecting better than the last two days," he told The Irish Times at the finish in Nimes yesterday.

However, despite that, Roche is clear on his goal for the final week: “I want to get into a breakaway in the Pyrenees and see what comes out of that.”

He will hope to recover as much as possible on today’s rest day, then take an aggressive approach when the race restarts tomorrow.

“The idea of winning a stage is like asking a kid if he would like to win the World Cup,” he said.

“It would be very disrespectful to come to the Tour and not hope to win one. I am one of those who is dreaming of a stage win.”

He finished 140th on yesterday’s stage, rolling across the line three minutes 37 seconds behind the sprint winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha).