"It was just different – [Campenaerts] had really dry conditions and I had rain so I couldn’t take any risks in the corner. Then I went all-out in the end.
"I went really slow in the corners in the beginning but otherwise then on the flat and on the climb [the weather] didn’t matter so much.
"We’ll see at the end [who is still in the mix]. It’s still a long way to go – a lot of kilometres, a lot of mountains – so it’s always nice to have some seconds in your advantage and be focussing on the days to come.
"It’s a really nice TT parcours. It’s really a beautiful all-round TT parcours. Also, for the time triallists, I think you can still do a decent result on this parcours. I had a good feeling all the way, but still it’s a climbing TT on this finish.
"I had a mechanical in the last 1.5km and that’s frustrating, of course. I had a chain drop. I have to say that we didn’t practise a bike change because I’m not a GC rider, and so in general when you have a mechanical you won’t have a good result anymore. But when you’re at 1.5km from the finish line and you went full gas for almost 50 minutes of course, you want to still go as fast as possible to the line.
"That’s the difference – if I would’ve had a mechanical 10km from the finish line, I would just save my energy. Maybe it’s a point we can work on, to practise bike changes. Hopefully there are no mechanicals in Verona.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"It’s very difficult to judge because when you’re racing full, full gas and you’re super-focused and you’re standing still for ten seconds it feels like ten minutes, so in my feeling I lost over half a minute, but for sure it will be less."
"I don’t think I could’ve gone any faster today. I was definitely just trying to keep it together on the climb. The little descents were nice moments to recover a little bit. I’m happy with my ride.
"You just have to try and find a rhythm, keep some speed on the uphills and take good corners and just try to keep the speed up really. Then, once you come out onto the open road, just follow the line and hold a good speed."
"It was very rainy for me but I stayed calm. My goal was to keep the Maglia Rosa so I'm very happy with the result. I only thought of Carboni who was next on GC but eventually Roglic took a lot of time on me. He's a great rider but I'm glad I can still enjoy the Maglia Rosa."
"In the first 22km I stepped on the gas a little bit and obviously that’s the flat part. So for a person like me that’s going to hurt a lot less and it gives you some time to set up on the climb.
"I hadn’t seen the descent before – there’s a point where it goes from a very narrow lane, a sharp S-bend to right lane. That caught me unawares. If you watch on TV I don’t make the corner, I go straight through, cut the tape and ninja my way through the barriers."
"We suffered in the wind, the rain, the crashes. Thankfully I didn't lose time. I'm doing a good job in the GC as well. Now I'm in the white jersey, it wasn't my main goal, but it is now.
"So far my Giro is good, but I'm going to fight for stage victories next week, and for the mountains jersey as well. But obviously I'm going to try to keep the white jersey as long as possible."
"It was a special day for someone who is not a TT specialist and who isn't a GC rider. I wouldn't say I had to go slow, but I had to deal with the climb and the rain the best I could and I'm glad it's over now.
