The 25-year-old Frenchman was again a protagonist at his home race.
A beast of a climb awaited the riders at the end of the penultimate stage, Le Grand Colombier - an ascent lying in the Jura mountains and the culmination of a day with six classified climbs and 3700 vertical meters.
Given that four of the five road stages so far belonged to the breakaway, dozens of riders were keen to make it into the front group, and this - together with a crash that involved some of the GC men - made for another fast and hectic start. It was only halfway through the stage that five riders finally managed to snap the elastic, and when this happened, Valentin Paret-Peintre was there for Soudal Quick-Step.
The Frenchman - who attacked also in the beginning - was one of the most active members of that leading group, spending some long stints at the front pulling and attacking again towards the end of the penultimate ascent to force a selection. By that point, the peloton managed to claw back time, and despite the escapees not surrendering, they were overhauled with eight kilometers to go, just as the last ascent was starting. The pace there and the heat made for some significant changes in the general classification, but nothing is yet clear ahead of the gruelling last stage to Plateau de Solaison.
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