_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"The guys were incredible to hold the pace _ that they did in the last 15 kilometers just with our team… that is super, _ super special. And to pull it out and keep the pace so high at the finish meant _ that I didn’t have to accelerate too much because we were already travelling so _ fast to the line. It’s incredible victory and I can’t wait to celebrate with _ the guys tonight.
_ _“This is a special place. I’ve got special _ memories from here. It’s where I won my first stage back in 2008 and the first _ of 17 wins is important.
_ _“My whole season goes into this race. It’s _ all about building up to be on my best form with the best team and to win _ consistently here. You can see how well the guys rode today – this was the HTC _ train of the old days, completely drilled and working tirelessly all day and _ holding onto the front until the end. I’ve got an incredible bunch of guys _ working for me.
_ _“It was hard because we had to go for the _ intermediate sprint with just over 25km from the finish and it was a dangerous _ sprint because there were a lot of guys bashing about there. Someone hit my _ shoe [in Buzançais] and I had to tighten it up with about 500 meters to go… _ and, after that, it was about trying to recover when we were in the cross winds _ and my team looked after me. I was able to recuperate enough to be able to get _ to the front and ride behind them to the finish.
_ _“I’m gutted for Brad [Wiggins]. He was on _ the form of his life! And, despite what some doubters might think, he was going _ to do something big here. I’m really upset for him. I hope he gets better soon.” _
