An interesting day of racing, once again in the shadow of Mont Blanc. Another mountain storm, not quite so intense as the one on the way to Andorre-Arcalis, made the roads especially treacherous towards the finish. At the beginning, we passed Lac d’Annecy, another of the glacial lakes of France.

Lake Annecy is oligotrophic: it has very low biological productivity because of low nutrient content. This results in very clear water. This impressive water quality is the work of the Syndicat Mixte du Lac d’Annecy, which was founded by the surrounding communes in 1957 to clean up the lake. They started by treating sewage flowing into the lake from these communes and have expanded into an organization of 114 surrounding communes which collectively make decisions to manage the water quality of the lake.

A wet ride into Saint-Gervais for the first French stage winner in this year’s Tour, the always-entertaining Romain Bardet. Just two stages to go!