Geoffrey Bouchard
« Happy to have found strong legs »
«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 the Tour de France. During the first two stages, I wasn't 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 dangerous riders in the general classification and that the peloton would not 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 metres from the top of the Col de Marie Blanque to follow Jai Hindley. I then found my rhythm to reach the summit but I am completely exhausted. I am really satisfied with the day. There were three of us from the team at the front and Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Clément Berthet have done an incredible job. I am delighted to wear this polka dot jersey, even though I know it will not be easy to keep it. Starting tomorrow, there are «big» points at stake, and it will certainly not be our strategy to go on breakaways to defend it.»
”There were three of us at the front of the team, and Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Clément Berthet did an incredible job.
The information
Ben O'Connor moves up seven places in the overall standings
Ben O'Connor moved up seven places in the overall standings and is now in 17th place. «It was a great stage with a great Felix Gall and a supportive team around him. Ben O'Connor is back in the race. He needed to get his confidence back,» he said. Vincent Lavenu, General manager of the AG2R CITROËN team.
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The figure
With the 3rd place finish of Felix Gall, the 16th of Ben O'Connor and the 25th of Clément Berthet, The AG2R CITROËN team finished third in the team classification for the stage and sixth in the overall classification. Felix Gall has a nine-point lead over Giulio Ciconne in the best climber classification.
