"I’m definitely not going to lie, it took a lot out of me, that crash before the race in Jerusalem. I had a lot of pain in my right hand side. In this game, if you're not at your absolute best you've got nowhere to hide. You can only hide it for so long. I feel that I have been progressing throughout the race and I'm still just chipping away and hoping to do the best that I can.
"I'm going to keep fighting. It's good to get this racing in the legs. I haven't done much racing this year and it's good to get the racing in. I haven't given up hope. We saw yesterday with Esteban just how quickly this race can change for any one of those GC riders. I'm going to keep plugging away. I'm really motivated and we're going to do as much as we can." (Eurosport)
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) - Stage winner and overall leader
[Did you plan it?] "Yes and no. We decided before the stage that we wouldn’t chase for the stage, because normally in a finish like that there are some faster guys who have won before me. That also proved true - the guys like Tim Wellens and Lotto-Jumbo, they came to the front to chase. They were obviously confident for the finish. That wasn’t the plan, but if it came back I would of course try.
"I’d prefer to be getting more time on Tom [Dumoulin]. He was really chasing me all the way to the finish there. He looks better than the other day on the steep finishes there. I think he’s getting better as the race goes on, and that’s not good news for me."
“I wasn’t good enough for the win but I’m super satisfied. I tried to follow Yates but I couldn’t close the gap and stayed at the same distance, I can’t blame myself. I am feeling very good, this is my best result since Jerusalem and my best feeling so far. This coming weekend is going to be super hard and I will give my best to defend this position. It’s still a long way until Rome."
Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) - 9th on stage, 7th overall
"It was a big, wide road, which is always a good way to make a breakaway take a long time to go. It wasn't too hard in the peloton, just sitting there. I was sitting at the back, it was pretty flowing and easy. But after that, moving up was quite difficult. The pace was high all day and to get to the front was actually quite hard. Once you were there you had to fight to make sure you didn't lose your spot knowing it was hard to get back up.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"I was feeling good, there was a little crash on the second to last climb and that made me have to go a little deeper than I wanted to, I had to fight to get back a bit. Even with that I was still able to be strong on the final climb and get a top 10. I didn't take time out of the top GC guys, but guys that are going to be a threat to my top 10, I took time out of them, so that's good."
"After the really hard stage yesterday, we were trying to save energy the whole day. It was a fast stage, on one hand that’s good because we got to recover a little bit for tomorrow. Then the next two stages are two of the stages we really are thinking we can do well in. We are here for that type of stage. Today we did the stage with Stybar, so I tried to help him until the first hard climb, then I was dropped. Now we are ready for tomorrow. The feeling is good. [Sam] Bennett is the man to beat."
"I really like this type of explosive finale. I am very happy because I retained the white jersey. I gained some time but I might lose some more in the time trials.
"The main goal is to keep the white jersey, but we will see along the way if I have the legs to look for more."
