“We could see that victory was going to be a little harder than we thought and it wasn’t to be. Richard Carapaz and I fought a bit like cat and mouse. There was no understanding between us and they caught us from behind. However, the reason why the breakaway did not make it to the end was not that moment, but rather the lack of cooperation at other moments and that some teams prevented us from gaining a bigger advantage. In any case, we were close to victory. I enjoyed this stage and this Tour, discovering a totally different cycling to what I had experienced until now. I’ve been able to help my teammates: Fernando in the sprints, others looking for a breakaway... and today they helped me. However, they pay me to fight for the general classification, so we will go for it in La Vuelta. The Combativity award is not why I want to be on the podium. However, it is nice for the Tour organization to recognize and value my way of competing these days. We are going home with a different taste in our mouths than in other years.”
