Geraint Thomas says he's "itching to go a lot better" when the Tour de France resumes tomorrow.
The defending champion is second in the general classification - and trails leader Julian Alaphilippe by 1 minute and 35 seconds.
The Welsh rider has revealed that he wasn't feeling well on Sunday's stage through the Pyrennes.
“Obviously on the Tourmalet I wasn’t feeling 100% but it was more just a fuelling thing over a few days rather than anything else.
"Yesterday I finished really strongly so it’s not an issue.”
Thomas' Ineos teammate Egan Bernal outpaced him at the weekend and he says he told the Colombian to ride his own race.
“We stick together, yesterday I said on the radio I didn’t feel great coming into the last climb, but as it turned out I did feel great at the top.
“The main thing is going into the Alps I feel motivated to try and finish this Tour off well. It’s been a slightly up and down race compared to last year but the main thing is I finish strong and I’m itching to go a lot better there.”
Thomas added that he's relishing a battle with Alaphilippe for the yellow jersey while Team Ineos chief Dave Brailsford says they remain confident of the Welshman securing back-to-back crowns.
“Nobody is really controlling the race as such,” Brailsford said. “It’s way more exciting but it’s more like chess in another sense.
“It’s brilliant fun. We’ve sat here on the second day of a Grand Tour so many times and people say we’ve closed the race down and it’s not been exciting. That’s not been the case this time. It’s fun to be involved in one of most exciting editions in a long time.”
