I'm very happy with the outcome today. I think it was a very selective day for the GC, and to finish second – I couldn't have asked for much more than that other than a stage victory.
When [Miguel Angel] Lopez went, he was extremely strong and at the top, I figured for me the most important thing was going to be to follow Vincenzo and to stay with the real favourites. I think Lopez was the most impressive today with his attack to win the stage. But, otherwise I was more concentrated on staying with Nibali, seeing as [Esteban] Chaves was already dropped and Alberto [Contador] was on the limit. For me, the main objective was to stay with Nibali and stay up front.
I'm really happy. It was a very complicated stage with the rain, which made it even more exhausting. But I'm really happy because the team has worked so well through this whole Vuelta a España. My teammates have been very attentive for Fabio [Aru] and me.
So this is a big achievement. In the final we found ourselves with good legs, and I knew a bit of the final so I was relaxed. I preferred to wait to attack until the last one or one and a half kilometres, which were really hard.
We hope to continue making progress like this. It's my first Grand Tour victory. Last year, I had a crash that didn't allow me to keep going in the Vuelta, but this year I arrived calm and relaxed, and we'll keep moving forward little by little.
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Sometimes when you have plan, in the end it can be good, or it can be bad, but the important things is that we try. At the bottom of the climb Bahrain-Merida attacked, Nibali attacked, Contador attacked, and I lost the wheel I had Jack [Haig] with me to try to set a pace and limit the losses.
(On teammate Simon Yates' earlier attack) This was part of the plan. Like I say, sometimes the plan is really good and it works really well, like last year, and sometimes it's like today. The important thing is to try and we will continue to try.
It was a very hard day, with a lot of rain from the beginning. I ended up losing a few seconds to Nibali, above all, but I've recouped a fair bit of time on some other guys. There's still a long way to go.
(On Froome) Nieve was going after Nibali and he ordered him to drop and wait for him. I think he was a bit uncomfortable, but we know what he's like, he recovers, and that's what he did.
