Giro d'Italia 2019: Stage 8 finish line quotes

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Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) - stage winner

"We've been trying pretty much all seven days now that we've been here, and i'm just so happy to repay them with the win now.

I thought if I was feeling good that I'd go first through the last corner, but it was still a long way to go and I wasn't feeling that good. It was quite a hard final - harder than I thought it would be. I just waited, I knew I had a good kick so I just waited til he (Ackermann) went then I came around him. It means a lot. I have a lot of pressure on me to win races now. The difference now is I'm expected to win. I had an alright start to the year, but not a great one. To win here means the world to me."

Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) - second on the stage

"I think he had the most reserves today. He looked really strong. You can see how strong he accelerated in the sprint. I was just on the limit and Caleb was the strongest today. Maybe we were too far in the front because all the others came from the back. Now we have to analyze the final and then we see what we did wrong. I still have my jersey and tomorrow is hopefully is easy, and then there are two more chances for us."

Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) - race leader

"It was a hard stage today in the final. In the downhill it was dangerous, but I have a big team, and they were super today. It was for the sprinters today. I stayed in the group, no problem. I hope tomorrow to keep the maglia rosa."

Giulio Ciccone (Trek Segafredo) - leader of the mountains classification

"Sometimes in the Giro there are occasions to foil the sprinters, I was of course looking for the KOM points, but we were off the front and I thought I could go for the win. Unfortunately one of the riders at the front was not very concerned about making this breakaway a success and we got caught. Anyway, I will try again."

Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal) - teammate of Caleb Ewan

"It was spectacular. The last 40km were very technical with twists and turns so the idea was to protect him in the hope that he could come to the finish feeling fresh and that he could finish it off. We came here with one goal with Caleb. Now we have that first win so we can relax."