"On the first climb eight of us went away, with guys like De Gendt and Bakelants, and then more came across including Jungels and Formolo, so only big names. I tried not to wear myself out. I knew I needed to save some freshness for the finale, to respond to the attacks from those guys with the big palmares. So I didn't do any more work than the others. I wanted to focus on the finale and didn't want to go after people on the first climbs, so when the attacks came I was happy to follow. Then I put in one big attack and behind they looked at each other a little. I managed my effort well and that was it.
"With 1.5km to go, I said to myself I could do it. My director was shouting that there was no one behind and I knew that in the final kilometre it flattened out and then was technical so it would be hard for anyone to come back there. So I felt confident from 1,500 metres."
Richard Carapaz (Movistar) - race leader
"Mikel [Landa] saw a possibility to gain some time and maybe target getting on the podium. In the end, I was able to gain a few seconds as well.
"This is definitely the best birthday present I could hope for."
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) - third overall
"Like I said, it was crazy with all the Slovenian flags and Slovenian supporters, of course I enjoyed them
"We will see, it is still a long way to go. Of course the days are going fast, but for me, the important thing is that I'm staying healthy and in one piece and for sure the fight is until the end.
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"I think I am recovered [from the crash]. I still have some pain around my chest, and my stomach is getting better so I can be optimistic about that. It affects the riding a little. For sure it doesn't help. Nobody finds it easy."
Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) - best young rider
"It was a good day, but I was hoping for more seconds. There aren't big differences but at the end of a stage like today there isn't much strength left."
Hugh Carthy (EF Education First)
"Again, good legs and good teamwork again. We had the objective today to get Tanel [Kangert] in the break and he did that at the start, a hard, fast start. After that is was the same old, conserve energy and get to the final. We did well all day today with Sean [Bennett] and Jonathan [Caicedo], they did well, we're deep into the third week now and they're helping out like teammates more experienced than they are. It was good in the final, leading me out and keeping me out of trouble and it was up to me in the final to do something.
"When [Mikel] Landa went I tried to follow him, it was hard but I did as much as I could.
"I'm surprised, I thought I would be more fatigued at this point but I knew I want to be [a GC] rider in the future and I've done Grand Tours before."
Larry Warbasse (AG2R La Mondiale)
"Nans [Peters] has been riding incredibly I think when he got in the break today he was our best chance as he has a great sprint, although I think he arrived alone. Today was a good finish for him, he's so strong and at this Giro he's been riding amazingly, it's incredible. It was hard for the team losing Tony [Gallopin] yesterday and Alexis [Vuillermoz] has had problems, too, so it's just so cool to see a guy like Nans, who always works so hard, to get his day. It's incredible.
"If you saw who was there [in the break], it was such a strong move and the start was so hard. To even get in the break was a great job and then to be able to ride away from that sort of company is really incredible so we're very happy."
