"I'm stull getting myself all together, but it's unbelievable. I knew in Dauphine I was good, and in the meantime I worked a little bit but not so much because there was also not a lot of time, but to win already this week is incredible. I didn't expect it, but today I knew there was a chance, and if the chance came I took it to go into the breakaway and also in the finale I gave everything.
"In the second-to-last climb I think the four strongest came out of the breakaway, but I was already thinking before that this four guys who came together – maybe one or two more – and then I new Ciccone was the man guy in the final, and, yeah, I'm so happy I finished it off.
"When I saw my mom and my dad and my girlfriend at the bottom when I came down, it was pretty emotional."
"The first objective was to try and win the stage, but coming across in second is also good. Dylan Teuns was just stronger, but it's really beautiful to wear this yellow jersey. I came out of the Giro really well; that was my number one objective for the season, and they brought me to the Tour to gain some experience. I'm only 24, and I'll learn a lot, and hopefully I'll be a good ally for Richie Porte as well.
"[Friday] is a long stage, and it will be a little bit difficult [to hold the jersey], but we have a great squad here, so why not. But that's a bit of a generic answer since I haven't spoken to the team directors yet about how they want to tackle it, given that Richie Porte is the man for GC."
"I'm happy with my day. The team did a great job... I've done my race, I'm with the best. There is no stage victory but I'm happy; you shouldn't have the wrong goal, don't get fired up because it was the Planche."
"I felt pretty good. I thought it would be more of a solid day. It’s never easy, but it was steady over the first few climbs. When Movistar went, Valverde was riding and it was solid. I was feeling good ,but I was unsure about … with the steep climbs not really my cup of tea, as they say.
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"I was expecting Richie [Porte], Nairo [Quintana], Egan [Bernal], obviously, to go up there, and [Adam] Yates.
"I was hoping it would be harder all day, but it was a decent day.
"It’s one of those climbs that you really have to be patient, and when [Julian] Alaphilippe went at 800 metres to go or something like that, I had the confidence to let him go, ride my own tempo and then drive it all the way to the line from 350 metres. I started to blow, though, but it was solid. It’s decent."
"This was to be expected, but there is still a lot to come.
"I cracked on the gravel. It was about limiting damage today. Julian Alaphilippe was lead perfectly. When he attacked, I knew I could not follow.
"Unfortunately, but there are a few better riders. I am not concerned about it, since there is still much to come. I had built up a nice lead through the team time trial, but I have now turned in something.
"It is what it is, the Tour is long."
Matt White (Mitchelton-Scott director)
"The race played out a lot more negatively than anyone would have predicted. When we saw the breakaway of that size at the start, when you want to keep the jersey, that’s a very hard one to control, especially with some of the engines in that breakaway like Thomas De Gendt, for example. There was a bit of a standoff between the GC teams, and when Movistar did start to chase, it was way too late for the stage win.
"A lot of the GC teams were feeling each other out. We saw some interesting things in the final. A lot of people would have predicted a much tougher stage. Typically the first big stage of the Tour de France is a big selection for the GC guys, but it wasn’t today.
"Adam [Yates] was where he needed to be and our other guys had their roles to play in the stage. We’re happy with how he finished - lost three seconds to his main rivals, a very small margin on the first tough day.
"The next few days - stages 8 and 9 have breakaways written all over the place. Stage 8 is way too hard for any team to try to control, 3,700m of climbing and has breakaway written all over it. Stage 9 will be too hard for the sprinters. I would expect really aggressive riding on stages 8 and 9.
"I haven’t seen [Adam] yet. He’s good and was very relaxed at the bottom of the climb and that was the last time we spoke."
