What a difference a year makes. Again.

Rewind 24 months and Thibaut Pinot was the toast of the French crowds as his maiden stage win saw him lauded as the next big thing for French cycling.

Go back 12, however, and the young FDJ.fr team leader, fraught with nerves, was losing a battle with a phobia of descending before eventually having to leave the Tour early.

Any remaining mental demons were banished on stage 16, however, as his brilliant Tour to date continued in style.

First Pinot earned a gap over the top of the Port de Bales and then he charged down the descent, staying comfortably in the yellow jersey group to move up to third overall and earn the white jersey.

With Pinot and Ag2r-La Mondiale duo Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Peraud occupying third, fourth and fifth respectively, things are suddenly looking up for French cycling.