Bob Stapleton – “‘Boogie' was just too strong...”

“It was exceptional to see Marcus do what did today. He was injured in January and missed all the Spring Classics – which is really what he lives for – and he fought hard to come back and be ready for the Tour. He’s only got about 35 days of racing in his legs and he worked super hard the whole race to defend the yellow jersey, help the lead-outs for ‘Cav’ and then he gets to do something here and he pulled it off. It’s just great for the team. It lifts the motivation of everybody involved. It’s what every worker needs; to believe that some day he’ll get a chance to win… and he did, and he did it. _ “The other thing is, ‘Boogie’ is exhausted. He’s been riding at the front for the whole race. He’s probably been on television more than any single athlete in the Tour because he’s been at the front so much. I was just nervous that there was just too much accumulative work over the course of the Tour. And Barredo tested him; we saw it. There were repeated, sharp attacks and they’re really painful for a tired rider and Carlos did everything he could to win but ‘Boogie’ was just too strong. On television it looked kind of funny, it looked like Marcus could have eaten him; the size difference between the two was pretty significant.”