I've been going better every day. I said I needed some time, and I didn't feel good in the first stages. Today we did it and it's amazing. I'm really grateful. I was behind Kristoff and he was going, I started in is wheel and thought now is the moment. I went with 200m and it was good enough. I hope there's more. I have the legs to win now, so we celebrate tonight and maybe the same tomorrow. (Eurosport)
With a few hundred metres to go, I was quite excited, to be honest. Once Quick-Step and Bora go, I can't match that speed. I just can't do it. There was that pinch point with about 2km to go, and that messed up some of the lead-out trains. There were a few renegades about. The speed was high, and I saw that the other sprinters had one or two guys, and I thought that I could jump from wheel to wheel. With 200m to go I was alright and the legs felt good. My power is good. I've had confidence all week.
[On collecting time bonus sprint] It was an open sprint and nobody in front, and so it was good to give it a try and take some seconds, just to be safe for the next stages because you never know what is going to happen.
[On today's 231km stage] "You still have to be focussed. They tried a few times with a little bit of attacking. Nothing big was happening, but you always have to stay focussed and stay up front. That's how it goes on stages like today, don't lose focus. I'm happy this stage is over and we can look forward to tomorrow and Sunday's stage. (Eurosport)
Greg [Van Avermaet] has had the jersey for four days and it's going well. If the points are there in the stage, then it's good that he takes them instead of Geraint Thomas (Team Sky). We didn't have to control it today. It was easy but a hectic finish. There was a bit of crosswinds. Some teams tried, but it wasn't quite strong enough. (Eurosport)
It was a complicated sprint. In the last kilometres, I was really well placed, but I was probably up toward the front too early because I didn't want to take any risks in the last corner. I got passed. I think I started my sprint too late, in the end, so it was disappointing. I can take some positives out of the day, at least. I'm not in great shape at the moment and I'm hoping that that improves as the Tour goes on. (Eurosport)
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