I expected it was going to be a shadow chasing match between the main GC guys and that was my mentality going into the final climb. Just following the guys and not doing too much with tomorrow in mind. It's interesting to see this late in the game some of the guys struggling out there. Fabio Aru was the most noticeable GC contender who lost a bit of time today. Tomorrow is the last hard, hard stage with a mountain top finish on the Izoard and I expect it to be a very tough day.
Charly Wegelius (Cannondale-Drapac DS)
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It was a great performance by the whole team. We had Alberto Bettiol and Dylan Van Baarle ahead of him (Uran) and to go to the Galibier with so many teammates was a really big advantage for him and he finished it off with a really good final.
I think that today and tomorrow are the key days in the race so we just take each day in the same way and see what comes.
Brian Holm (Quick-Step Floors DS) on Marcel Kittel's abandon
We knew already that it was pretty tough for Marcel. He didn't really feel super after the rest day and then he crashed. I don't really know what happened in the crash. He came back but then he was dropped pretty early and then we knew it would be a long day. Suddenly he was out and we asked Julian Vermote and Fabio Sabatini to continue and not to finish out of time.
I'm really happy with Dan [Martin], he did a really good race today. He was really hurt after his crash in Chambery. He came back and he gave a good show today. At least he gave his best.
The whole week, Dan has said that he will be back in the Alps and it looks like it.
It's good to actually feel like a rider again. I don't even think about crashing anymore.
The war of attrition continues, everyone has to take time out of Chris. It is going to be war tomorrow.
(On his Galibier attack) I just wanted to test it out and make it uncomfortable for Sky. The tempo they were riding wasn't too hard, so I thought maybe Chris [Froome] is on a bad day, and I'd test him out. But at the end of the day Chris doesn't need to take time out of anybody with the time trial in Marseille.
I thought I'd have a go. In the end, I guess my accelerations maybe put paid to Simon [Yates]. I've jumped a place on GC, and it's just good to be feeling good again.
(Is Chris Frome bullet proof?) He's got a good poker face, anyone can crack, anyone can have a bad day. It might be his turn tomorrow.
It's a shame. We had some riders out in the breakaway and they had more than five minutes. We started the climb and I thought that I would try to do something today. I was feeling strong and my legs were good. It was like doing a time trial and I think that I really paid for my efforts on the Galibier. It really is a shame for my team because they worked really well for me with [Jarlinson] Pantano, Bauke [Mollema] was really impressive. I know that I couldn't win the stage but it was a beautiful stage.
Nairo [Quintana] came with me and I wanted him to come with me. I was pushing and I tried to take him with me but he wasn't able to so I just had to go myself. I couldn't go all the way to the finish line, though.
