Luis Leon Sanchez – “It's never easy...”

“The thing is that the Tour has had a really bad beginning for our team. Finally we don’t have Alejandro [Valverde] in the team but we are professional enough to know that we have a sponsor who supports us. I want dedicate this win to girlfriend and my family.
“The first week was really difficult for me. But now I have a victory. Now I will try to stay strong and be ambitious as I’m the leader of the team.
“We did a good race today but I was not alone, I had a good group in the escape and we all worked well together. I had a bit of luck because this win will change the mood in the team, there’ll be a more motivated atmosphere.
“I spoke with Astarloza when the gap was big and told him I would give him the stage win if I could take the yellow jersey. I had come back in June to do the Rud du Sud which went up the Col d’Agnes and I knew it was a stage for me. I had some experience after winning a stage last year and that added to my confidence but it’s still never easy. In the Spanish tradition, I’d like to start to focus on the general classification in the years to come. This year I rode less to be fitter for the Tour.”