Marcus Burghardt – “I had better legs in the end...”

“It’s amazing because we have had such success already in this team and now I can’t believe it that I have also taken a victory in the Tour de France. The first attack came at kilometer zero and I was in the first group with seven riders that was caught after the first hour of racing. I didn’t give up and attacked again and was pleased to be able to make the selection _ “Near the end of the stage, Carlos [Barredo] and I exchanged a few words and he said that he wouldn’t work anymore because he thought that I am faster in the sprint and it turns out that I had better legs in the end. _ “It was important that, in the first two weeks that I helped Kim [Kirchen] and Mark [Cavendish] and maybe that was also the reason that we had so much success in the first days. Our management is really good, we have a really nice team and a great spirit in our group and I think that’s the key to how we’ve achieved the success we have at this year’s Tour de France. We came here knowing that we could be strong but I’m very happy to have contributed to success in the early stages and to get a win for myself is something I’ll remember for a long time.”