Romain Bardet has ridden enough of the Tour de France to know that the mountains that will be unveiled at the October presentation are not necessarily those that will be faced the following July. These mountains may be ancient, but they change as circumstances dictate.

In 2017, Bardet took on the Mules de Péguerre for the final overall win in the Tour de France, frustrated by heavy marking and a lack of coordination in the yellow jersey group. On Tuesday, Team DSM's Bardet was the first GC rider to lose contact with the maillot jaune group on a sweltering afternoon, and when he lonely climbed to the summit, his podium challenge was already over.

Bardet, watched over by teammates Chris Hamilton and Andreas Lechnesen, crossed the climb and descended the winding descent to Foix. He dropped from fourth to ninth in the overall standings. He is 6:37 away from the yellow jersey at the Vinge goal and less than 4 minutes away from the podium.

"I was weak, struggling to accelerate, and had a headache. It was a really bad day," said Bardet upon arriving in Foix. Calvaire, it was an ordeal."

"I want to give a big round of applause to my teammates who were with me from the start to the finish. I don't know where that came from. I got chills. ...... It was a really bad day."

Earlier in this Tour, Geraint Thomas suggested that Bardet was near the prime of his life, and in the Giro d'Italia in May, he had his strongest run in the blockhouse on stage 9.

"After that day, I knew I could win the Giro," Bardet told Pedère magazine just before the Tour. I thought I could win the Giro," Bardet told Pedère magazine just before the Tour. However, a few days later, Bardet's challenge was cut short by illness.

The Tour gave Bardet a second chance. Ostensibly, Bardet began the race with the goal of winning a stage, but his consistent climbing in the Alps quickly propelled him to a podium contender, and although he entered the third week of the Tour just 18 seconds behind third-place Thomas, his hopes of a third podium in Paris began to fracture as the pack of contenders for the win The race was virtually ended upstream of the Mulle de Péguerre.

The maillot jaune group had already stretched at the Porte de Res before Pogacar's first attack on the Vingee goal. Pogacar's teammate Rafal Mayka made up the pace and Bardet made the decisive bunt on the final climb of the day.

"It was pathetic to see him go up at 5 km/h. That's the way it is. I tried to keep up, but I couldn't keep a constant high pace," Bardet said.

"It wasn't even my legs. It was nothing. My head was pounding and I was really going crazy."

On Monday's rest day, Bardet noted that his chances of winning a Tour stage were limited because he was closing in on Vingegaard, Pogacar, and Thomas in the overall standings.

The new deficit ostensibly gives him rather more freedom, but it remains to be seen if Bardet can muster the energy to take advantage of it. Wednesday's 16th stage will finish in Peyragudo, where five years ago Bardet scored the best win of his career.

"The desire will be there, but right now I really need to rest.

"I felt fresh this morning, but I couldn't follow from the first acceleration. It's hard. We still have some good days ahead of us, so hopefully we can get back on track."

While Bardet's podium prospects narrowed, his compatriot David Gaudoux (Groupama-FDJ) enjoyed a more productive run in Mules de Péguerre, limiting the damage of the climb sufficiently to finish first.

He jumped up three places to fifth overall, 4:24 behind Vingegaard and 1:41 off the podium.

"It wasn't a super leg today, but I'm still okay," Gaud said.

"You need a little bit of luck to get on the podium. You need a little bit of luck to get on the podium. After that, no one can escape a bad day, be it me, Geraint Thomas, or anyone else. Hopefully the best is yet to come."