Tour de France stage 2 reactions: Steven Kruijswijk, Rohan Dennis, Wout van Aert, Greg Van Avermaet
Jul 08 2019 03:16 am CET
Tour de France
Jumbo-Visma took the victory of the second stage of the Tour de France, which was a team time trial in Brussels. Steven Kruijswijk, the TT World Champion Rohan Dennis, the leader of the Youth classification Wout van Aert and the Polka Dot jersey wearer Greg Van Avermaet shared their opinions after the second day of racing in the French grand tour.
Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma)
"I was not focused on my position in the GC today. The fact that I am gaining time on my competitors here is a nice bonus. We came here to win the team time trial and we succeeded in that. Wout, Mike and Tony were the team's engines. All went well today, the pace was good and everyone did their job. We went really fast. We have started the Tour well and hopefully, we can keep this flow in the coming days and weeks to achieve even more."
Rohan Dennis (Bahrain-Merida)
"It’s always a tough race the TTT and we have done quite well but we can improve more. For example, how we can maintain a high speed. We were ninth today and the important thing is there we weren’t too far behind Team Ineos and a Team Jumbo-Visma who was truly better than anybody else."
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
"When it hurts during a team time trial and we feel that we’re going fast, it’s a great feeling. It’s wonderful that we’ve won the first two stages. Many dreams are coming true to me these days. I’m taking part in my first Tour de France, starting from Belgium. We’ve got the Maillot Jaune, and actually all the jerseys except for the polka dot. No one expected us to actually be up there today. We wanted to do our best in order to gain some time on the GC for Steven Kruijswijk, or at least not losing it… Yet we got the victory. So far, I’ve been feeling good but I weight 78kg so I won’t be able to retain the white jersey in the mountains. I’m in good shape but I don’t know a stage win will be within reach. Firstly, I want to enjoy this beautiful moment with the team. I hope the dream just doesn’t end too soon."
Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team)
"We haven’t won this year but I’m not disappointed. I think we’ve done a good team time trial. Tomorrow’s stage is a very important one for me. I reckoned it two weeks ago. The pure sprinters won’t make it because of the climbs. It suits riders like Peter Sagan, Michael Matthews and myself. It’ll be a question of positioning in the last few kilometres before the uphill finish. I’m really happy with my shape and how the first weekend in Belgium went."
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