Brioude, July 15 -- Like a lost love, the Tour de France gains in value for riders who can't race in it.

That was the lesson Thibaut Pinot learned last year when the French rider, who'd fallen sick at the Giro d'Italia in May, then missed the Tour and watched on TV as others wrote history at cycling's showcase race.

"It was no fun," he recalls. "I realized how important the Tour is for a French rider."

This year, he's making amends.

With the race shifting its attention to the toughest climbs to come in the Pyrenees and Alps, Pinot is not only lighting up TV screens but also is most definitely in the picture among top pretenders for overall victory in Paris on July 28.

With no Tour winner for French fans to cheer for since Bernard Hin...