While, rightly, the attention post-stage was focussed on Tony Martin’s injuries, it should not overshadow a great stage victory by Tour debutant Zdenek Stybar.

Stybar epitomises Etixx-QuickStep’s strength in depth and showed a stunning turn of speed to accelerate away from the bunch.

It was aided by Peter Sagan’s reluctance to lead the fast men across to him on the uphill finish, but he who dares wins, as they say, and Stybar has daring by the bucketload.

A series of freak – and horrific – injuries means he has not yet had chance to prove fully what he can do on the road, having switched his attentions from cyclo-cross.

But the Czech ace has plenty to offer both in the Classics and on stages such as this one in the Grand Tours.

Strade Bianche success and second place finishes at E3-Harelbeke and Paris-Roubaix marked a successful start to the season, and Tour de France stage success continues that trend.

Having crashed out of Paris-Roubaix because of a spectator in 2013, and then lost his teeth in a horrific crash, caused by unsafe road barrier feet protruding into the road at the Eneco Tour last year, perhaps his luck is turning.

Etixx-QuickStep’s concern is quite righly with Tony Martin, but Stybar’s win should give them plenty of cause for optimism – even if their short-term ambitions have been dealt a hefty blow by Martin’s broken collarbone.