Tour de France stage 16 reactions roundup: Julian Alaphilippe, Gorka Izagirre, Adam Yates, Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome
Jul 25 2018 06:28 am CET
Tour de France
The 16th stage of the Tour de France has been the first day in the Pyrenees and despite the lack of attacks in the peloton, the breakaway displayed a good performance that even included some worrying crashes. Here's an overview of some of the riders' reactions at the end of the stage.
Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors)
"Today it was a really crazy day. I had pain in the legs, but I don’t think I was the only one suffering. I knew the finale, with the climb and the downhill, but I still can’t believe that I won again. Taking two victories, one in the Alps and another one in the Pyrenees, is mind-blowing, I will never forget this day."
Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida)
"I spent a lot in over 100km of breakaway and also all the riders were excellent athletes. On the last climb, we tried together with Domenico (Pozzovivo), but Alaphilippe proved to be the strongest. Tomorrow will be a very special race and I would like to do a good race in front of the many Basque fans I will find on the road. "
Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)
"It’s just one of those things. I’ve taken more risks on more technical descents before and never had any problems. We can’t recon all of these stages and you don’t know what’s coming up on some of these corners, but it must have been a bit damp and I came down and that’s all there is to it. My morale is pretty damaged right now. When you come so close to winning a stage of the Tour it’s devastating, not just for me but for the team. We’ve been working at these stages, trying to do something and when you come that close it’s disappointing."
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
"We were expecting fireworks and a lot of attacks, but they didn’t really materialise and obviously on the final climb there were a few and the boys were strong, we managed to control that and the final descent. Everyone rode really strongly and in a way it was good that the break took a while to go as it meant Luke (Rowe) didn’t have to ride as long on the front. The team are riding really well and we’re buzzing off each other. It’s good at the moment."
Chris Froome (Team Sky)
"We heard about (Philippe) Gilbert’s crash when he was upfront alone and then about Yates’ crash too and it was just a heads-up to everyone else around us to take it easy - it’s a bike race at the end of the day, it’s not worth risking our lives for."
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDS