"The stage started bad for me because I flatted at kilometre zero. I chased back and then got in the break straight away. It was hard to stay away but to beat Jasper Stuyven is crazy. I still can't believe it.
"For sure this is the biggest victory of my career so far. It's difficult to describe. It's fantastic to have won.
"How I did it? I don't know. I knew when it's a hard sprint I have power, I can push a big gear. I just tried to believe in myself and tried to find a little more energy and yeah, I could finish it.
[Asked about the absence of Philippe Gilbert, who would have been among the favourites for the punchy finish] "First I want to thank Philippe for not coming here [joking]. I know he had a hard time. He was a really good teammate and a big idol for me in our team and I could learn a lot for him – how he always keeps fighting and comes back and believes in himself. I also tried this today and I could finish it off in his style.
"It's absolutely the biggest victory for me so far."
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"I can keep high speed at the finish, the other guys are better sprinters. I should have tried an attack in the last kilometre but you never known how things can go after 200km in the break.
"I tested my legs, I’ve tested my limits but Ill try again in the days to come. You never know what can happen in the Giro."
"We cannot take it too far and hope to win every stage. The final in the end was maybe a bit too hard for him [Gaviria]. For us it was a perfect situation with the breakaway gone. We were hoping the breakaway would go until the end so the bonuses were gone. I just had to keep an eye on my opponents, so it worked out in the end.
[Asked if he is thinking about matching fellow Luxembourger Charly Gaul's 20 days in pink] "There's still a long way to go. No, I think we live in different times now. As I've said already before, I hope to keep it until Sunday and then on Blockhaus we'll have to see how far I can go, how much time I lose, and then Tuesday is another opportunity for me to gain back time on the climbers.
"The Giro d’Italia is one of biggest races on the planet. I love the passion in Italy and the emotions people show here, the atmosphere is different to other races. I’ve raced here since I was very young and always like to come back. I hope to keep the pink jersey as long as possible."
Matt White (Orica-Scott directeur sportif) on why his team did not chase
"It was one of those days, a great day for the opportunists. We saw the breakaway stayed away today. We can't waste energy for three weeks in a row. We have two objectives: one with Caleb [Ewan], and today's finish was too hard for him. We're not going to bring it back on the odd chance that Adam [Yates] could go for the stage win. We've got bigger fish to fry over three weeks. He's in a good place at the moment, but we've got to be very conservative in how we expend our energy.
"I think with Blockhaus, the next mountain stage, and the TT, we'll have a better idea of who is going to really challenging for the victory in the end."
[After his stage 5 crash] "I'm not physically in my best shape, but that's why I just have to maintain my position in the GC and just think about Sunday. If I get there without losing any seconds I'm satisfied. Hopefully I'll have had a little extra recovery from my crash and do something there."
"We worked hard to chase the break but the other teams didn’t want to help. Quick-Step Floors didn’t want to work because they had the jersey and have worked hard already in the Giro.
"Unfortunately we let the break get too much time and it was impossible to pull them back. Other teams came to work but it was too little too late. Teams like Dimension Data and UAE should have done more.
"Some teams have a team leader for the GC and so the other teams should have helped us chase. The break rode cleverly today. I think the first mistake was to let the break gain more than five minutes. I sat up on the climb when we knew we wouldn’t catch them. Gaviria sat up at the same time."
"It’s never nice to crash but I went down hard the other day. I’m still in pain but I’m happy to see how people have cheered for me and encouraged me to finish each stage. I have to keep going for them.
"Yesterday I had a bad day and even felt worse this morning. Fortunately I felt better on the bike as we went on. I can only hope and try to feel better and better as the Giro goes on."
