"I’ve worked hard for this, but my first-ever win at the Tour de France is incredible. It’s difficult to put into words.
"There was a strong headwind in the finale of the stage, but I had good legs and so I went for it, hoping to catch Stuyven. I got him and then I managed to hold them off.
"This is clearly the best day of my career. It’s the best I could ever hope or dream to do."
"We knew that today would be a fight for the break, because we knew the break was, well we were happy for it to stay away. A lot of guys were up the road. Luke and Gianni went really well, just rode within themselves and let the gap go out. Obviously we knew it would explode here. We knew the guys would try, so we're satisfied. Obviously Roglic got a bit of time back, but it wasn't too much of a stress for us.
"The main thing was staying with [Tom Dumoulin] and just trying to not get too carried away like myself anyway, and just stay with the main guys. So it was a good day. To gain time on anyone is always nice, so I think we can be satisfied with that." (NBC Sports)
"Not much has changed in the top three on GC, but I'm pretty happy with that so far. It was a tough finish, and the size of the group showed how tough that climb is, but I'm really happy with that. It was a short climb, but we saw what damage it did with gaps opening up with a few seconds gained here and there.
"We can ride off each other. I imagine for our rivals it's making it quite difficult having two guys to watch like that. Tom [Dumoulin] looks really good. He put in a good attack there today and there's still going to be some tough racing. He's sitting in third place at the moment, just a few seconds behind me and he's our biggest threat at the moment." (Eurosport)
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Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) – Fourth on stage after being in the break of the day
"Spending the whole day in front, I was a bit bored because I thought I would be dropped in the finale anyway. So, for me, today was a long day. But in the last 5km, I refocused and thought, 'Well, I try and suffer a little. I stayed with the group and never overpaced myself. Once I crested the top, I attacked and tried to bridge to the front, but it was just not enough. I am happy with my legs, but I really wanted to win in the end."
Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) – Lost 1:43 to Thomas after a late puncture
“It was the worst moment possible [to get a puncture before the climb]. Either side of the road there was a lot of gravel, and we were riding on the side of the road. It was a risk and it happened, but there is nothing you can do. That’s just the way it is. It was a hard start and everybody knew it was going to go on to the smaller roads and no one panicked. It was a really strange day.” (UAE Team Emirates)
"There were echelons at the start. I was in the first one and that doesn’t happen much, but we knew a big group would go for the victory, so I really wanted to be in it. That was the plan, and it worked. I knew it’d be difficult to win because there were so many big-name riders in the break. There were teams with three or even four or five riders, so I knew they’d try something. I was keeping an eye on Alaphilippe and Fraile, but Jasper Stuyven was really strong and went close. It was a good try by him." (Eurosport)
"This morning it was in the program that we wanted try and go in the breakaway. In the end, we went really fast in the first 10km of the stage and with crosswinds it was really chaotic. Then, me, Stefan and Greg were able to make it into the big breakaway. It was 'à bloc' all day up and down, left and right and then the last climb was really short and steep. So, for me, it was like a TT because I went full gas from the bottom to the finish, and in the end I was fifth, but I was hoping for a podium finish maybe.
"The goal now will be to try again in the next few days. I am feeling really good. I worked hard to be ready for this race and today I was able to show once again that my condition is good and I will keep trying."
