It completely makes up for it. This just felt so good today. I was really on top of it. Eight-hundred metres from the end, I felt like I was on top of it. Alberto Contador went on the attack. I went on the outside of him and then back in and I knew that I would be the fastest.
[Alberto] Contador was my idol when I was younger. I never would have believed that I could do this a few years ago.
From the spectators point of view, very exciting, but I stayed calm in spite of the attacks. My teammates have fallen, some are injured, and that's why I was alone. The next few days will be better for them. I know what counts is to get to the end of each evening feeling good and in control of the race.
[Losing Jakob Fuglsang] is bad news for myself and the team. I saw the crash two days ago, it's a big loss.
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Yesterday was a difficult day for me, but today feel a lot better and we played a good strategic game with our team. Mikel was not a long way back on GC. Maybe the next few days we can do the same thing again.
We've got a lot of faith in Mikel, and I think that he showed today that he's a real threat now for the overall title in Paris. It's a great card for us to play, especially now that Astana don't have the numbers to control the race.
It was quite a great feeling to have to go out there and race for the win today rather than racing defensively and having that pressure of defending the yellow jersey. It felt quite nice having the shoe on the other foot.
Servais Knaven (Team Sky directeur sportif)
The plan was not to make the race hard ourselves, just to see what was happening. There were riders who were interested in trying something and getting some time back. That was probably the idea of Quintana, Contador and some others. Our idea was just to be ready for that and when those guys moved Mikel Landa was the rider to be there with them. He did a great job and because of this the others had to chase.
In the end it was perfect and Landa took two minutes. He is close in GC now and that could be good next week if we have to play another tactic. On the other hand, Chris is still our leader and for the next week it will be Chris who we will support the best, but with Mikel we have another card to play if needed.
Dan [Martin] was setting a really strong pace on the final climb there, and I'm sure that everyone was hurting but I didn't have the kick to go. I rode my own rhythm to the top and managed to come back. It was fun and games all the way down to the bottom and then I managed to get away and catch Dan in the final. We worked well until the finish line. We gained only a few seconds but for sure it all counts.
I prefer days like this, where you can get stuck in and give it full gas. Yesterday was more about survival because it was such a long day. You're worried about all sorts like drinking, eating and saving your legs. When a day is so long, it creates negative racing. When it's a shorter day like today it creates positive racing.
In the end, I considered it wasn't the right day because the breakaway didn't go to the finish. I found a good move but when Contador and Landa moved it wasn't my place. I needed another stage. What happened happened, tomorrow we will try again. My legs were good but on a day like today you need everything to go perfectly.
