Robbie McEwen - "Oscar was great today..."

“I knew I had to try and steer my way out of a bad situation but I couldn’t get out until 100 meters to go and I just missed catching Freire. I was almost there – I passed everybody – but he was just too strong to catch today. The first phase of this Tour could have gone better: I could have won every single sprint but I’ve won three, I’ve been second and have won a sprint for fourth and I’ve also been fifth. To get to the mountains and not have a day out of the top five and to have the green jersey, isn’t too bad. _ “We’re almost at the half way mark of the Tour but the hardest part is yet to come. For me it’s been fantastic so far and I’m going to keep trying to defend the jersey. _ “Oscar looked at me and asked, ‘Who won?’ He really didn’t know and he didn’t dare claim it. But I told him he’d done a good ride because I knew straight away. I knew I didn’t catch him. _ “As a sprinter you see things clearly: you may not be sure if you’ve won but you’re always sure if you’ve been beaten. _ “Being strong and fast is what wins sprints and that’s what Oscar was today. He had a little bit better position than me. Our tactics the past few days was to come from behind and drag race the others to the finish. I didn’t expect that to work three times in a row though. I thought Quickstep would try something new and that’s what they did. They started on the left, went to the right, back to the left… they changed direction all the time. I anticipated this happening but still got blocked in. It’s a bit disappointing to not ride the sprint exactly how I wanted to but that’s how it is with racing and Oscar was great today."