NANS PETERS: «It's crazy.»
«This is the greatest victory of my professional career. Then again, I only have two! I went out and got it in style, in a mountain stage, in front of a big crowd. It's crazy. When we had a 12-minute lead, I knew we were going to go for the win. I said to myself, ’Focus on winning the stage!« When I dropped Zakarin on the descent from Port de Bales, I was thinking about not cracking. I savoured the last 500 metres because I didn't do that last year when I won the stage in the Giro. What a day for our team. Stage victory, polka dot jersey and Romain is very strong.»
ROMAIN BARDET: «A great day for the team»
4th in the overall standings, 11 seconds behind’
«It's a great day for the team. First breakaway on the Tour and first victory, Nans scored big. He's opportunistic and has no hang-ups. My assessment is a bit mixed because I took a big blow to the knee in a bad fall and it's painful.»
BENOIT COSNEFROY: «Proud and happy for Nans»
«Tonight, keeping my jersey is insignificant compared to what Nans has achieved. He put in a great performance. I'm happy and proud of him. We were flatmates in Chambéry when we were at Chambéry Cyclisme Formation, we know each other very well and I think what he's doing is absolutely incredible: first Tour, first victory. Hats off to him."
VINCENT LAVENU: «We can breathe easy.»
»When you win a stage in the Tour, you can breathe easy. Nans has achieved a feat on a par with last year's Giro. He's a tenacious lad who never gives up. He came through our training centre, just like Benoit and Romain, which validates our hard work. Romain is fourth overall, Benoit retains the polka dot jersey. Nans wins the stage. It's fantastic, but we must always remain humble and continue to work hard and fight.’
THE FIGURE
35
Benoit Cosnefroy scored 10 points in the best climber classification. He now has 35 points and is four points ahead of Nans Peters, who also won the Combativity Award.
