"It was a very long stage and it was very hot. I'm so happy and proud of my team because they did a very good job. I'm so happy to win for them, for Tinkoff and for Oleg [Tinkov]. It was unbelievable. A lot of times I lose the race for this [photo finish], and today I won. I believe in destiny and now it is turning back.
"Fans came here from Slovakia and it is very nice that they could come here to see me and to cheer for me. I have some fans in Switzerland, too."
"I thought I had it. I was sprinting at maximum and I didn’t really see the line until it was too late, so I maybe make my jump rom my bike a little too late, and maybe that made the decision.
"It was a fast day, and my team worked well with the pacing on the front. I tried my best, but the finish ws really hard and I was just on the limit.
"It’s disappointing to be so close for a win and then don’t make it. I thought I had it there, and I even thought I had it after the line, but I wasn’t sure."
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"I was just hanging on there. It was a bit sketchy. I could just seethe wheel in front of me, and that’s it.
How bad was the heat today and how hhg was the tempo?
"It was a hard day, actually. When you have Tony Martin in frtn it’s not going to be easy. It wasn’t easy at all. Four hours 25 to do 210km, that’s pretty fast."
Jose Acevedo (Katusha director)
"It's disappointing to have lost the sprint by such a small margin. It was an incredible victory for Sagan - more a win for Sagan than a loss for Kristoff.
"At the beginning we were really happy and celebrating because we thought we had the win. Then, it started to filter through that we hadn't. It was disappointing. The organisers were saying Sagan had won and Kristoff was second. We lost by a tiny little margin.
"The team has worked really hard since the beginning of the Tour and right at the end we lost by a few millimeters. That's cycling, that's sport, and so we have another chance in Paris and hopefully Kristoff can win on the Champs-Elysees. Tomorrow is a new day, we'll have to think about Paris now and have a rest tomorrow.
"It's going to be very hard after the rest day because we go to the mountains."
Ivan Basso (Tinkoff director)
"It was an incredible victory, it says absolutely everything about Peter's riding today. We prepared for this type of finale, he's the world champion and a champion every time. Peter didn't speak too much this morning. It was one of our goals for the Tour, and it all worked really well."
Brian Holm (Etixx-QuickStep director)
"It was quite a difficult stage, but Tony [Martin] has won stages like this before. [Julian] Alaphilippe being out there wasn't really part of our master plan, especially after yesterday and maybe he will regret hanging out there. Tony said that every day they have been chasing for a bunch sprint and today they can chase me. They did, and it looked like he was hurting everybody. To have two riders out there was sort of an honour, also for being in a big race like the Tour de France, so I am very happy."
"I wasn't actually up at the front those last few kilometers, it was pretty sketchy through all the towns, with lots of road furniture, lefts and rights and obviously over the cobbles. I was just trying to stay out of trouble and get to the finish as good as possible. I think everyone is quite glad there's a rest day tomorrow, that was a tough day out there.
"I'm pretty tired to be honest, and looking forward to the rest day> I'm looking forward to the Alps. I'm motivated, the team's been great. I'm looking forward to the last few days now.
"I think the team's in fantastic shape. I don't think we've ever been at this point with nine riders left. That's a great advantage for us. The guys are doing well, the morale is high, and we have the leader's jersey and a lot to fight for still. We're looking forward to getting back into the mountains now."
