The Irishman finished fourth on the stage, 21 seconds down on winner Alberto Contador, and with only Richie Porte and Froome ahead of him on the 3.9-kilometre uphill test.
"I'm obviously pretty happy and surprised," he said once he found his composure.
"I've been in Andorra and just riding my bike. I love riding in the mountains. I’ve not really done any specific training at all and that’s the first time I’ve hit that heart rate since Liege. It bodes well for the rest of the week.
"I spoke to Julian and his advice helped a lot. He went as hard as he could on the steep part, expecting it to get easier to the line but there was a headwind and if you didn’t stay on it for the final 600 meters then you could lose 15, 20 seconds. It’s very easy to get carried away with the people but I didn’t really ride to power, as I haven’t don’t any training for it. I just used the power meter to stop me from going too deep at the start."
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
