"We did a pretty good job today. We showed we had some patience in the team because on the climb our best guys to pull were dropped. Then with [Valerio] Conti [virtual leader - ed.] in front there was a little game but in the end we did really well to wait for our strong horses to come back and then pull the breakaway almost back at the finish.
[Did you expect the attack from Landa?] "No, not really. It was also an attack to keep the other teams a little bit challenged, because it was a long way to go until the final, especially with the downhill. It was more to keep the other teams pulling so Geraint Thomas could stay in the wheels.
[About his crash] "It was just in the downhill with I think 35 or 32km to go, I just didn't pay attention and I hit the wheel of my teammate. It was nothing bad.
"We knew it would be a hard start with the tailwind and an easy day yesterday. Everyone expected the breakaway to go to the end today. A lot of guys tried, then with the wind in the beginning it was not so easy. It was quite an entertaining stage to see, and in the end everything went alright for us."
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"I sensed that the other teams were cooling off, so I thought I'd give it a go and try and take advantage of that. It didn't quite work out but I'm happy with it."
Rod Ellingworth (Team Sky director)
"The plan was mainly just to not lose time on GC, that was the main thing, and it's job done. Mikel was feeling good, he had a little dig. It turned out to be a tough day, the crosswinds early on made big difference and from the second-cat climb it never let up, so a tough day compared to yesterday. Last week if you said we'd be in this position, we'd be very happy."
"We expected a hard stage, it was very fast indeed, but we have saved the jersey."
Jan Polanc (Team UAE Emirates) - mountains classification leader
"Today it really took a long time for the breakaway to be created. After the crash of Conti, I saw he was on the ground in one of the last corners. It was very frustrating for us, but that's sport. We must keep looking for other opportunities.
"Tomorrow for sure it's difficult. It's only one mountain finish for classification, and it's the finish of the stage. You never know - we will try something."
