More Tour reactions

Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana):

Vinokourov soldiered through another stage of ticking over the pedals with stitched up knees. He agreed that finishing a tough stage like today in his condition was a victory of courage. He hoped that tomorrow "I can limit the losses and after that we'll see," and confirmed that that would be his major objective for now. He will reassess things after the rest day. He stated that it was unfortunate to crash, but is now prepared to make the best of it. Asked if he still thinks he can win the Tour de France the Kazakh reminded everyone that "it's the sport and one always has to believe."

Sandy Casar (Française Des Jeux): I felt good in the beginning and tried to get into the breaks. It was really fast in the beginning and I suffered from the heat a little bit. It's the first mountain stage and I could sense I wasn't going too well. I tried to settle into my rhythm and limit the losses. It's true that I am bit disappointed right now. Tomorrow will be a different race, where the GC will be made. We will wait for the rest day and see how it goes.

Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi) - second: I gave it all to get back to Gerdemann in the descent, but I couldn't catch him, it was impossible. I never once was looking into mountains points - it is the stage I wanted. In the climb, I tried, but I needed to ride at my rhythm, and I was at my limit over the top."

David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) - third: I am very content with my ride, I didn't hope to be in the front, but I am a fighter and because of it we achieved this little success today. If I want to win the polka-dot jersey? We don't have to ask this question, we will just try it, even though it will be very difficult.

Juan Manuel Garate (Quickstep) - seventh: "The polka-dot is a goal, but today was not a good day for me. The next stage will be more important."

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) - tenth: "We knew that we had to pay attention right from the start and that we needed to have a rider in the break. Iván Gutiérrez did great work. Personally I felt well. The heat made the stage difficult, even if the pace wasn't too elevated."

Romain Feillu (Agritubel): "For me it was really a super hard day. Tomorrow, if it doesn't go better, there is the risk it's the end. One has to be realistic, I was going all out and I arrived more than 20 minutes back."

Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel): " The stage didn't fulfil its promises, but the riders wanted to be careful, and since the stage victory and the yellow jersey was played out in the front, that determined the battle in the back. If the stage and [yellow] jersey would have been on the line for the favourites, we would have seen a different race. Tomorrow, with a mountain top finish, there will be more battle and we will see for real what cards everyone has."

Johan Bruyneel (Directeur sportif Discovery Channel):

"One could see that the guys in the main group were hesitant to attack on the first day in the mountains. That's why we saw such an important group all together at the Colombière, but the guys I wanted to see up front were there: Leipheimer, Contador, Popovych and Gusev. I am satisfied how things went today. Tomorrow I expect an attack, it will a very difficult stage. We will have to be careful, observe how the others go and not do something crazy."