Fraile realises his dream, Costa will keep trying, Dumoulin says ten Dam 'like good wine'
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Omar Fraile claims victory on the Giro d'Italia's 11th stage.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Omar Fraile celebrates his first Grand Tour stage win.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Omar Fraile, Rui Costa and Pierre Rolland nearing the Bagno di Romagna finish line in the Giro d'Italia's 11th stage(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The GC group thinning out on stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
"It's been an incredible day, it played out the best way possible. It's a victory I've dreamed of for a long time. The Giro has been a dream and a passion since I was a kid and pulling off this victory is the greatest thing I've achieved.
"I'd noticed that this stage suited me very well. I went on the attack early and went with Landa because we knew we could gain some ground. When they came back up to us, I marked Rui Costa because he's fast but I was even faster today.
"I'd dreamed about a win like this for a long time. It's great to finally pull it off.
"This is my first win at the Giro d'Italia. It always feel special to race in Italy because I won my first race here – the Giro dell'Appennino. I think the Giro is the nicest in the world and so that makes winning here even more special.
"[On fighting for the mountains jersey] My first goal was to win a stage. I've scored some points for the climber's jersey and it could be a goal but Polanc still has the jersey. We'll see what happens."
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"We knew the break was going to stay away and it was important to finish it off after doing some great work with Petilli. It's a pity that I'd spent a lot of energy to make the break get away. We rode well and the only thing missing was some fresh legs for the sprint.
"Of course we'll keep trying, there's still a long way to go in this Giro."
"We expected a really hard fight and it was. We also expected guys at five or six minutes back in the GC to attack and it happened. I can only thank my team today. They did a fantastic job. They kept the attack within distance and I knew that other teams would start to stress because Andrey Amador of Movistar was in the break.
"Then Laurens ten Dam dropped back to help, so it turned out to be good day. Ten Dam is our old warrior but he keeps getting better by age, he's like good wine. I'm really happy to still have the pink jersey.
"The whole team was amazing today. We never got stressed out and we'll do the same day after day to try to keep the pink jersey.
"It won't be easy for me to win the Giro but it won't be easy for anyone. For sure it's going to super hard for me too. But I'm happy to get through today's tricky stage. We survived today."
"We lost Wilco Kelderman in the crash with motorbike on the Blockhaus but we're a good team and I think we showed it today.
"Tom has a great chance to win the Giro. He's still in pink even if the Giro is tough and it's going to be a hard final week. I'd say he's got 50-50 chance of wining but guys like Nibali and Quintana also have a big chance. We've got the final time trial to pull something back bit for sure it's going to be a great Giro."
Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) - mountains classification leader
"If I want to keep the jersey I'll have to go in the breakaway. I'm quite sure Omar Fraile will also try to win the mountains jersey, so it will be very difficult. Today my legs weren't that bad, I survived the day more or less. We'll see in the next days.
"The plan was to get at least one guy in the breakaway, we had two. We are maybe a little disappointed about this loss, because we were quite sure Rui is in good shape and could win, but Fraile was a little stronger. There are still some more opportunities."
Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) - young riders classification leader
"As expected it was a pretty hard stage from the start on. We saw on the first climb there weren't so many riders left in the bunch, and there was a big breakaway of course with Kangert and Amador as good riders in the GC. So it was a hard race all day long. On the final climb, the first GC guys tried to attack each other a little bit. I'm happy that I could stay with them and arrive at the finish with them."
"Pellizotti crashed but I think he's okay. We tired to win the stage but Visconti was a little unlucky. I thought Nairo would attack but he didn't move even though he had three teammates up there in the attack. It seemed liked he'd try something but it didn't happen.
"I feel good so far but each year is always different; sometimes you have a season that is better than others. I feel good but the Giro is long and we know that Nairo is strong; he's attacked me and Froome in the past and won. He's he guy to beat in the mountains. But it won't be easy for him this year. Tom Dumoulin has the pink jersey now by quite a bit and it's never easy to pull back time."
Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) - fifth on stage 11, after being in the attack of the day
"I'm angrier than the other day in Peschici when I finished second. I wanted to win today.
"I was up there for Vincenzo if the race exploded behind. It didn't happen and so I was given the green light to ride my own race.
"I was marked heavily because I'm fast in sprint. I don't understand Amador's race because he chased me down each time I attacked. He could have earned more time but was focused on me. I shouted at him to work because we're friends but he shouted back at me.
"I was caught behind when Kangert got across to the move. It's frustrating because things don't seem to be going my way. Of course we're happy because Vincenzo rode well and didn't waste any energy."
