"It was a super fast stage, with a small possibility of crosswinds that pushed us to stay at the front. I felt good throughout the stage and kept Jonas [Vingegaard] safe all the way to the final kilometres, when I finally switched off to take a breath with my mission accomplished. I’ve known Christophe [Laporte] for years, not only as a a teammate. We have been racing together a lot this season and I’ve seen firsthand how he can be strong on the flat and the lead-outs, but also in the mountains and the small climbs as he has showed these days. Normally this would have been a sprint for me, but I was feeling a bit tired in the morning after all the efforts I did yesterday. It would have been difficult for me to win and the green jersey is already secured, so it was nice to give Chris a chance to do his own thing. He works a lot for the team and he deserves it. It’s beautiful that he won, and I’m very happy for him. Tadej [Pogacar] takes every little opportunity to attack. I like the way he races. We have to stay focused on every single moment of the race in order to follow his moves. I will try to win again on tomorrow’s time trial. I hope to have good legs – better ones than today!"
