Franco Pellizotti – “I've now got a big haul of points...”

“From the moment the others rejoined us, we worked together to the finish. And in the end Astarloza won. Van Den Broeck was very strong. I had expended a lot of energy early on. He demonstrated two days ago that he’s in excellent shape and he deserves something from this Tour.
“I’ll only be certain that I’ve won the polka-dot jersey when I get to Paris. I knew that today was the easiest stage for me to get into the break with a climb at the start. We attacked, it cost me a lot of energy but I’ve now got a big haul of points.
“I didn’t lose the stage because I spent energy chasing the climbing points. With two kilometers to go, Astarloza darted away at the right moment and he is clearly in excellent shape too… he’s also looking at the GC. He’s very strong and he didn’t come down in the last shower of rain. Riders like that know how to seize the right moment.”