Trek-Segafredo's Soinier entered the path of FDJ-Grupama's Thibaut Pinot as he passed a musette to a team rider, resulting in a hard blow to the face of the former Tour de France 3rd place finisher.

Pinot had bad luck on today's stage 8, coming off his bike with just over 40km to go. He ran into trouble in the feeding zone and hit his face hard. Visibly shaken, he hugged Matthew Beaudan, communications director of EF Education-Easy Post, who was nearby.

The previous day, on stage 7, Pinot was 2:26 behind Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) at the finish of La Super Planche des Belles Fils and 24th in the overall standings, 7:47 behind.

On Thursday, Pinot explained that he considers a stage win in his hometown to be an honorable result, but that he is not too concerned about his personal result, as he is a supporter of Grupama-FDJ leader David Gaudoux.

In their approach to the Tour, the Groupama-FDJ team roster suggested that Pinot and Gaudou would be joint leaders, but Gaudou, currently fifth in GC, was aiming for an overall result, while Pinot was going for individual stages.

Pinot, still recovering from COVID-19, is still a bit off the pace to challenge for a mountain stage win at this year's Tour.

"Thibault hasn't found his full form yet, which is normal after COVID, but I think we'll see great Pinot in the Alps and Pyrenees," team manager Marc Madiot said after the finish of stage 7 at Planche des Belles Fils. Marc Madiot said.

After a fall and a hard hit to the face, Pinot returned to the peloton, but finished in 51st place, 2:18 behind the lead group of Pogachar. He is now more than 10 minutes behind Pogachar in the overall standings.