Geoffrey Bouchard
" Happy to have my legs back ".
"It was the first big mountain stage and I'm happy to have found my legs again after all the work I put in to get in shape for Tour France. During the first two stages, I wasn't performing at my best. Getting away today gave us hope of going all the way. However, the group was large and we found ourselves playing for points in the mountains classification because we knew there were riders in the general classification and that the peloton wouldn't let us get away. We were surprised by the gap, which allowed us to aim for the stage victory. It didn't change much because I ran out of energy 500 meters from the top of the Col de Marie Blanque to follow Jai Hindley. I then found my rhythm to reach the summit, but I was completely exhausted. I'm really happy with the day. There were three of us from the team at the front, andAurélien Paret-PeintreandClément Berthet did an incredible job. I'm happy to wear this polka dot jersey, even though I know it won't be easy to keep it. Starting tomorrow, there are "big" points at stake, and it certainly won't be our strategy to go on breakaways to defend it."
"There were three of us up front, and Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Clément Berthet did an incredible job.
The news
Ben O'Connor moves up seven places overall
Ben O'Connor moved up seven places in the overall standings to 17th. "It was a great stage with a great Felix Gall and a solid team around him. Ben O'Connor is back in the race. He needed to get back into the swing of things," says Vincent Lavenu, general manager of the AG2R CITROËN team.
3
Key number
With Felix Gall 3rd, Ben O'Connor 16th and Clément Berthet 25th, the AG2R CITROËN team is third in the team classification and sixth overall. Felix Gall has a nine-point lead over Giulio Ciconne in the best climber classification.
