"We really wanted to break the race up and we wanted create some mischief. That's what we did.
"It's a good day for me as I move up in the overall ranking, although I wanted a stage win as a gift for the mechanics, soigneurs, directors, my family... all the people who have helped me overcome the day I had on Saturday because of the altitude. It was only one bad day though. I rode the time trial as well as I could have hoped.
"It's a great feeling to win for the first time at the Giro d'Italia."
"Second yet again! I wanted to give my team a win but it's an ideal situation for the maglia rosa as I'm now three minutes ahead of Esteban Chaves and the others. I was feeling really good so I had to make the best of this short but really hard stage. I had to follow [Vincenzo] Nibali when he attacked early in the stage. I didn't expect so much action the day after the rest day."
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"I've seen last year in the Tour that the last week is pretty good for me. Already yesterday I felt pretty good.
"I gave it a try in the first climbs where we had a lot of attacks. Then there was the group, and it was full gas all day long. In the end I just kept going my rhythm. That's my weakness and my strength - I cannot accelerate and stop and accelerate like the real climbers. But on climbs like these I can go in a high rhythm from the bottom to the top.
"I'm seventh now I think. I don't know what I can do. If I finish seventh here it would be amazing. There are two more really hard stages to come, which go really high up in altitude. I really hope the weather will be OK, because that will be a big point. If we have snow, it would be a pity. It would change the fairness of the race. I really hope we can do the stages properly."
