It was an incredible feeling. I came here really hoping to fight for a stage. I didn't think it'd happen so fast. I'm very happy. I was very motivated, I believed inside that I could really do what I needed to do to pull it off, and today has been the day.
From the start there were a thousand attacks. It was very hard. The breakaway was very big, more than 30 riders. Then as we started to climb, people were getting dropped.
The last ascent, we climbed really fast. We got to the final with two and then a few others came into town. Then we were all looking at each other, but I said, 'I'm not going to let any attack go without me. If I don't have enough strength in the final, so be it, but I'm going to give it my all. Since I've been in the break all day, I have to take advantage of this opportunity'
It was the hardest day of the Vuelta so far. It didn't stop all day. The attacks - and obviously having Sanchez in front - meant we had to pull really hard and keep them close.
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Everyone saw the fireworks in the final. It was definitely the toughest stage we've done so far.
I think all in all it was a good day for us. It was a really tough stage. I think a lot of people spent a lot of energy today, but the team was fantastic again. I mean I can only thank my teammates that I am still in red today.
Contador was very impressive - very, very impressive. I mean it's still a long race, and I'm sure he's gong to be someone to keep animating the stages to come. Of course it’s not easy but I don’t have much option - I have to follow when Alberto goes. Even though he’s lost time time he’s still a dangerous threat. He’s shown just how strong and tenacious he is and he’s going to keep fighting all the way to the end of this Vuelta, I’m sure.
Yvon Ledanois (BMC directeur sportif) to Eurosport
It was bad luck for us today, because Tejay [van Garderen] was in the group with Contador. We spoke with him, said 'easy Tejay'. He had good legs but then crashed with Betancur, and you can lose everything with a crash like that. We were behind, we changed his bike, and took it group by group, and we nearly caught Froome. So after the two crashes, he's not in luck today, but I hope it's good for the next days.
The Vuelta is not finished. Three weeks with his level, I think there'll be a lot of surprises every day. Hard stages with 35 degree heat. We'll look ahead now.
Anyone you ask, they’ll say it was a super demanding stage, with barely a moment to catch your breath. It was a perfect situation to drop some GC guys, important guys, When I attacked I wanted to make it hard and I knew that if some other guys came with me it could be interesting.
From my point of view I thought therewould be more collaboration. There were teams there who stood to benefit, who had two or three riders with their leader, and were in a position to distance other riders. Maybe further down the line they’ll have to take advantage of these opportunities. Days like this can often end up being more important even than the Angliru.
There were points up for grabs today, so I tried to go in the break. I paid a bit for the efforts I made in the break on the last two days but I still managed to come away with I think 8 points, so I’m happy. It was very fast at the start when I was trying to get into the move and the speed was still really high when I was away in the group in front. And then with this heat, it’s always hard.
The race is a race. Somebody was stronger than us, but I think we did a really nice race today with Bob [Jungels] and Enric [Mas] in the breakaway. Enric was in the group to go to the finish for the victory. He's very young, it's his first participation in the Vuelta and I think he can be happy with this.
I prefer something more fresh for sure. I think everybody was really on the limit today because the stage was really hard and hot. The pace was really high because Sky didn't let the breakaway go because of the guys who are too close on the general classification. Then Trek made an attack on the steep part of the last climb and everything exploded.
