Cadel Evans – “Here we are – leading the Tour de France”

"I can’t quite believe it just yet. The cameras probably didn’t catch the crash in the first kilometers. I hit the ground pretty hard but fortunately I took all the impact on my arm and not on my legs but it make it a hard day even harder.
“In the end, Schleck went away but I had to conserve a little bit. It wasn’t an easy stage and the wind made it difficult to judge in the final but at this point I’m in a great position. I’ve got an advantage over Contador and when you look at our history that’s a good thing to have.
“When Armstrong is dropped, Contador wants to put him as far out of the classification as possible and the way Astana rode put us in a really good position. That’s why we prepared so carefully for the day on the cobbles because it allowed me to put time into Contador – and we’ve got to do that whenever we can. He’s been saving his team for the climbs in the Pyrenees they’ll sink the boots in a little further.
“I have a little bit of a barrier over Andy Schleck but we’ll see what happens. I’ve got to have a bit of time to consider everything.
“It’s a bit of a rare honor to have in cycling – to swap the rainbow jersey for the yellow one – but I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has believed in me, not only this year at the BMC team but over all the years, since I was 14 years old and started racing mountain bikes. There are so many people who have helped me along the way. This is one of the rewards we sometimes get and there are more – better – things yet to come.
“Steve Morabito rode really well. He knows the area because he lives here and, like he showed in the Tour de Suisse, he’s coming into some good form. It’s going really well with everyone in the team – all the mechanics, soigneurs, the other riders – it’s been a pleasure to work with them. Everywhere along the way they’ve looked after me and, here we are – leading the Tour de France.”