Simon Gerrans – “Better late than never...”

“When we started that final climb with such an advantage on the peloton I thought we could hang on. It was only then that I began to think it was possible to stay away but it wasn’t until the last couple of hundred meters that I thought I could win. I was really in trouble but once I caught [Danny] Pate and [Egoi] Martinez again, I did what I could to hang on. _ “In the few stages leading up to today, I thought suited a breakaway and I was trying and trying and trying to get in the move. It just wasn’t happening for me. A big mountain stage like today is not one in which I’d usually back myself to go for the win but I thought, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, there’s a rest day tomorrow…’ and I gave it everything to get in the break. Once I was there it was just a matter of racing with three other guys and not the whole peloton. _ “It was only in the last kilometer that I started believing that I could get the better of the other guys. They were climbing better than me that’s why I wasn’t giving them much support at the finish but under the red kite I realized I was in with a real crack at the win. _ “It’s been my aim at every Tour de France to try and win a stage this is my fourth one and it’s taken until now to finally pull it off but it’s better late than never, huh?”