Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Chris Froome (Team Sky) at the finish line of stage 11 at the Tour de France(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) on the attack with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) - stage winner, overall race leader
It is unreal and I didn't expect it at all. We were low on numbers [at the end] and so it was more instinct when I went - it was so that we didn't get caught out and have to ride. I got a little gap and then Froome could follow the other guys. I committed and got across to [Tom] Dumoulin and was able to sit on because Froome was coming across. I could see [Mikel Nieve], and it's a shame, but I had to go for that win because it was super nice.
We knew the attacks would come, and it was just a matter of trying to control them. Luckily we did. For me it was just an amazing day. I said earlier, whatever happens now is a bonus, this race has been amazing for me so far. It will be a success whatever happens now.
I wasn't really thinking of taking yellow, after yesterday I knew anything could happen. To get it was a nice bonus, but to actually get the stage was a shock - it's great.
[On taking the yellow jersey] I knew there was a good chance, obviously, but I didn't know how anyone else was going to ride. To wear the yellow jersey is always a massive honour. I managed to do it last year, and to do it two years in a row is really nice.
(On leading Froome) Froome's won six Grand Tours - he knows how to race over three weeks. For me, it's an unknown. It's a great situation for the team. We'll keep riding well together, communicating as a team, and as long as one of us wins, that's the main thing.
It was great having both of us there, because anything can happen, anyone can have a bad day. Hopefully both of us can be consistent. (NBC, Eurosport)
Amazing position for us, I don't think we quite expected that going into today's stage. I think initially everybody thought Alpe d'Huez would be the more decisive and it very well still could be. It puts us in a fantastic position going into tomorrow's stage.
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I think it was a spur of the moment thing but it made sense, it was perfect. We didn't even have to talk, it was the right thing for Geraint to do and push on there. I let the wheel go because I knew it would put the onus on the rest of the guys to chase.
He [Dan Martin] put in a big acceleration there, I was surprised I was the only one that held on to his wheel but Dan's ridden really well, I think he's trying to make up time as well from when he crashed and lost a bit of time. I think the main guy who stands out as a bit of a threat right now is Tom Dumoulin, he rode a very impressive stage today I guess it depends on how everyone is going to back up tomorrow because tomorrow is a really big stage.)
[On tomorrow] You'll have to wait and see. (Eurosport)
[On fighting back to GC group then attacking] I saw that they had stopped and I was coming up behind, so I thought why not give it a go. I knew on that last 4k that everyone would be looking at each other and if you could get a gap it could stay.
I was really grateful to Chris for riding with me, as I knew with Geraint up front he didn't need to. But damn he was strong and he was killing me!
I was pretty tired at the end there, but considering how I felt, it was a pretty good operation. After the crash I wasn't really thinking about the GC, just trying to do my best every day.
I just love racing in the mountains. The last few days haven't felt like racing as I have enjoyed it so much. It's a shame that I enjoy something that hurts like hell. Racing on this mountain with this crowd - there is no feeling like it!
Everybody had a go today: Movistar had a go and then Tom [Dumoulin]. This Tour is going to be about who has the least bad 'bad day'. If I haven't of had the crash I would be a lot better off by now. I am just going to keep going what I am doing. (UAE Team Emirates)
The attack was improvised, we went on intuition. Søren [Kragh Andersen] was in the break and he is a madman in the downhills. I told him to go at the front and go fast, but not take any risks and suddenly we had a gap.
He did such an amazing job, the whole team were brilliant today. I had a lot of guys with me for the whole day which was great.
I actually learned to ski in this village when I was a little kid. My uncle rented a house here and the whole family came. This spring he passed away, just two weeks after my aunty also passed away. So my dad lost his brother and sister within two weeks of each other. Today I really wanted to perform well for them and I hope that I did them proud. I’ll keep doing my best every day.
Today I had a good day, maybe tomorrow I pay for it but I'm happy with today. (Team Sunweb)
We wanted to 'play', but the truth is that we did not meet expectations. It was a very hard pace all day and we lost a few seconds that I hope are not too many to try to keep fighting for the race.
It will be strange to go back to my normal jersey. I like this jersey and I like my bike but tomorrow it is back to normal. These were great days at the Tour de France, I'm happy with how I raced with the yellow jersey and for me, it was one of the nicest moments of my career that's for sure. It was super hard today. I felt like I didn't have great legs but you still have to do the parcours, and even just doing the parcours was pretty hard.
